EAGLE - His bones have rested for decades on a gentle hill, not far from a few wind-beaten cedars.

For more than 85 years, nothing marked his grave.

A fire that consumed many of the cemetery's oldest records may also have taken the reason why Wyatt Hogan was buried in the Eagle Cemetery.

But now, thanks to the work of historical researchers, cemetery trustees and members of the American Legion post in Eagle, Hogan will be honored.

He has been given a bronze marker. Today, he will be paid the respect befitting a military veteran.

Those who've done the work believe it's worth the trouble.

Because 145 years ago, Wyatt Hogan fought for freedom -his own.

***

An incomplete sketch of Hogan's life is all that remains, but even it would not exist had he not joined the Union Army.

In the fall of 1863, Hogan volunteered for the newly mustered 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry at Fort Scott, said Dean Podoll, an amateur historian from La Vista who has compiled a survey of all Civil War veterans buried in Cass County.

Military records say Hogan was born in Mississippi, which means - with near certainty - he would have been a slave. How he gained his freedom is unknown.

He joined nearly 200,000 black men who served in the U.S. Army and Navy in segregated regiments during the Civil War, according to the National Archives and Records Administration. They were led by white officers, undoubtedly out of a belief that blacks were unfit for command.

Despite enduring such bigotry, nearly 40,000 black soldiers gave their lives by war's end.

The 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry joined the war in a series of skirmishes and engagements in Arkansas. Then, sometime after April 18, 1864, news arrived that had to have sent chills through every man in the regiment.

In a battle at Poison Spring, Ark., nearly half of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry was lost after they found themselves greatly outnumbered by Confederate troops. After the battle, rebel soldiers slaughtered many of the black troops who were wounded or taken prisoner.

On April 30, Private Hogan and other members of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry made a successful charge on rebel forces at Jenkins' Ferry in Arkansas. Accounts from the battlefield say the black troops yelled, "Remember Poison Spring" as they defeated the Confederates.

Sometime after the battle, Hogan's regiment was changed to the 83rd U.S. Colored Troops. What happened to him after the war is unclear, Podoll said, but he left the Army as a private.

A federal death record indicates Hogan died on April 28, 1923, in Kansas City, said another researcher. Date of birth, if it was even known, was not included.

He was buried in the Eagle Cemetery, 180 miles north of Kansas City. No one yet knows why.

"That remains a mystery," Podoll said.

***

Last winter, Podoll gave a brown bag lunch program about his project at the Cass County Historical Society in Plattsmouth.

He discussed how there are about 19,300 confirmed graves of Civil War veterans in Nebraska. Of those, only 92 belong to black soldiers.

His survey found 425 Civil War veterans buried in Cass County. Only one was a black soldier - in Eagle.

Terry Caddy, a member of the Eagle Cemetery Board of Trustees, happened to be working in Plattsmouth that day and he attended the program.

Later, he checked the cemetery map and, sure enough, found Hogan's name. His burial was in a two-space lot.

Unfortunately, that's the only information he found. Most of the cemetery's other records were lost in a house fire in Eagle in the 1920s. Caddy found no deed indicating Hogan purchased the lot or if he was buried next to a relative or spouse.

Still, Caddy said the grave is in the main part of the cemetery, so Hogan was not segregated from the white burials. And Caddy guessed it was not a potter's grave.

Perhaps he lacked money for a marker. Or one could have been stolen.

Caddy mentioned the discovery to members of the American Legion Post 197 in Eagle. Post member James Heng, a Lincoln resident who formerly lived in Eagle, was immediately intrigued.

Heng, a Navy veteran, has a strong interest in the Civil War because several of his ancestors served in the Union Army. With the blessing of Post Commander Milt Schmidt, Heng explored whether he could obtain a marker from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

After months of letter exchanges, phone calls and documentation checks, the VA sent a bronze marker to the cemetery. It reads: "Wyatt Hogan Pvt Co B 83 US Col'd Inf."

Schmidt, Heng and others recently poured a cement pad above Hogan's pad and mounted the marker.

Heng said he was motivated to honor a veteran who'd seemingly been forgotten.

"These guys went out and served their country; they gave their lives or were willing to, yet they're laying there unrecognized," he said. "If I can do something little like that, that's not much. They did a hell of a lot more."

***

Everyone involved with the investigation has speculated about why Hogan ended up in Nebraska.

The government gave Union soldiers incentives under the Homestead Act, so perhaps he farmed near Eagle. Or maybe he worked on the railroad.

Researchers have identified the grave of Master Sgt. James Brown, another member of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry, at Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln. Perhaps Brown and Hogan were friends who settled in eastern Nebraska together.

The Department of Nebraska Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War joined the effort to find information about Hogan. Paul Hadley, a member of the Sons group, said they will continue their search in coming months.

But today, they will dress in Civil War uniforms and participate in the ceremony to honor Hogan.

The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars also will participate in the event. The First United Methodist Church choir from Lincoln will perform.

Organizers will lay the tools of the soldier at the grave, including a canteen and haversack.

They'll post a guard graveside, who will stand at attention. The American flag will be flown at half staff.

They'll fire a salute with period muskets and sing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Wyatt Hogan's life is still largely a mystery.

But some already know all they need to know about him.

"These people (served) because they believed in something," Hadley said. "We're kind of showing we believe in them, too."

Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.