In 1861, eighteen-year-old Bacon left home and served in the United States Navy in the Caribbean and on the Mississippi River during the American Civil War.
His attitudes toward African-Americans was described as "patronizing ... at best," a common view among white officers in charge of colored regiments.
He was part of the occupying force of Texas, and in June 1865 was promoted to major of the 117th Colored Infantry Regiment, after which he resigned.
[9] On his return to civil life, Bacon studied theology at Yale Divinity School and preached in a few different places before settling in 1877 at the Second Congregational Church in New London, Connecticut.
[12] In 1885, while on a vacation for his health in California, he abruptly resigned his ministry in Connecticut, to the surprise of his congregation in New London; The New York Times reported his sudden appearance in Santa Barbara, where a sermon of his in the Congregational church was received with approbation and judged to inspire "new ideas, fresh thoughts, and high resolve.