John Armstrong Bross (February 21, 1826 – July 1864) was a Colonel in the Union Army during the United States Civil War who died while leading the 29th Colored Infantry, part of the 88th Illinois Infantry, against Confederate troops. This occurred during the Battle of the Crater at the siege of Petersburg in Virginia. As he departed to fight in his final battle, Bross said: “If it is the will of Providence that I do not return, I ask no nobler epitaph than that I fell for my country at the head of this black and blue [for the Union army] regiment.”