The 56th USCI was organized March 11, 1864 originally
from the 3rd Arkansas Infantry (African-Descent).
The Regiment was formed in St. Louis and served post
and garrison duty in Helena, Ark. Service: Action at Indian
Bay April 13, 1864. Muffleton Lodge June 29. Operations in
Arkansas July 1-31. Wallace Ferry, Big Creek, July 26.
Expedition from Helena up White River August 29-
September 3. Expedition from Helena to Friar's Point,
September, 1866. Mustered out September 15, 1866. 

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database

                                    
                                     The 56th USCI and Southland College

     Southland College was one of the oldest private institutions located in
Helena, Arkansas established for the education of Blacks. It was originally
founded as an asylum for lost and abandoned children by the Friends'
Freedmen Committee of the Indiana Meeting of Friends (Quakers) and
Elkanah Beard at the request of General Napoleon B. Buford, Union
Commandant at Helena in April of 1864.

     Two years later Col. CHARLES BENTZONI (Buford's successor), was
ordered to return the buildings which housed the orphanage back to their
original owners. Instead of evicting the school, Col. BENTZONI and his
command, THE 56th UNITED STATES COLORED INFANTRY REGIMENT
volunteered to save the orphanage. They donated money to purchase 30
acres nine miles northwest of Helena and provided their labor to erect the
buildings. The new site and temporary buildings were deeded to the
Indiana Yearly Meeting and was dedicated in March 1866.

     Training black teachers for the uplift of the race was the primary goal of
the school and by 1874, sixty teachers had been trained. The school was
renamed Southland College and diplomas were granted to the first
graduating class in 1876. By the end of 1886, five permanent buildings
had been built and enrollment was near three-hundred students.

     Unfortunately the school was plagued by problems, the school building
and chapel were destroyed by fire in 1900, a drought destroyed most of
the farm crops, frequent changes in administration along with continued
financial problems lead to the eventual closure of the school in 1925.


University of Arkansas-Special Collections