Monthly Archives: June 2013

Wittenberg During the Civil War

Newspaper clipping from Springfield Republic July 3, 1863

Dr. Samuel Sprecher, President of Wittenberg College from 1849 to1874.

Dr. Samuel Sprecher was the President of Wittenberg College (as it was then known) during the Civil War. Many Wittenberg students served in the Union Army during the war and, for a time, so many were serving in the Army or otherwise supporting the cause that classes were suspended. In an effort to boost military enlistment, Dr. Sprecher donated a cow to be auctioned to raise money paid in bounties, or bonuses to enlistees. The clipping above is from the Springfield Republic dated July 3, 1863, and offers just a glimpse of Wittenberg’s involvement in the war.