the law firm of Helm and Bruce with his brother-in-law, Benjamin Hardin Helm. During the 1860 presidential election, Bruce actively supported the Constitutional Union ticket of John Bell and Edward Everett. In 1861, he adopted a states' rights platform and unsuccessfully sought a seat in the United States House of Representatives, losing to Robert Mallory. Civil War At the outbreak of the Civil War, Bruce sided with the Confederacy and left Louisville for Bowling Green, the headquarters of the state's Confederates, on August 17, 1861. He was a delegate to Kentucky's first Confederate sovereignty convention, held at Russellville from October 29–31, 1861. This self-constituted convention laid the groundwork for Kentucky's secession from the Union, and called for a second convention to be held in Russellville November 18 and 19, 1861. This second convention passed an ordinance of secession, declaring Kentucky to have withdrawn from the Union. The convention also established a provisional Confederate state government, and Bruce was elected a member of its legislature. Shortly thereafter, Kentucky was admitted to the Confederate States of America. On January 22, 1862, Bruce was elected as a Representative in the First Confederate Congress. He was chosen to represent Kentucky on a committee to arrange and conduct the inaugural ceremonies of Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens as Confederate President and Vice-President, respectively. He was also named to the Foreign Relations Committee and the Committee on Patents. On January 10, 1864, he was re-elected to the Second Confederate Congress, serving until the end of the war. Records of his service in the Confederate Congresses have been lost to history. Bruce and the other members of the Confederate Congress – along with President Davis – remained in Richmond, Virginia, until April 2, 1865. They then fled to Danville, Virginia, where they remained until Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Afterward, Bruce traveled first to Greensboro, North Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, before returning to Richmond after President Andrew Johnson declared amnesty for ex-Confederates. Bruce then traveled to Washington, D.C. where he arranged a meeting with his close friend and fellow Kentuckian, Attorney General James Speed. Speed informed Bruce that he had been granted a pardon for any actions of disloyalty during the war. Post-war life Bruce returned to Louisville June 19, 1865, and in August 1865, formed the law firm of Bruce and Russell with Samuel Russell, his former pupil. They dissolved the partnership