The Eighth Infantry saw active duty on the Atlantic coast in the Army of the Potomac and in the western department, marching and fighting in practically all the southern states from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic ocean.

At the organization of the regiment it was ordered to rendezvous at Grand Rapids, but was afterwards transferred to Fort Wayne at Detroit, where it was mustered into service of the U. S. on the 23d day of September, 1861.

The field, staff and line officers at organization were as follows:

Colonel, William M. Fenton, Fenton. Lieutenant Colonel, Frank Graves, Niles. Major, Amasa B. Watson, Muskegon. Surgeon, Hurlburt B. Shank, Lansing. Assistant Surgeon, Samuel R. Wooster, Grand Rapids. Adjutant, David B. Harbaugh, Detroit. Quartermaster, Asa Gregory, Flint. Chaplin, William Mahone, Detroit.

1. Captain, Samuel C. Guild, Flint. First Lieutenant, George E. Newell, Flint. Second Lieutenant, George H. Turner, Flint.
2. Captain, Gilbert E. Pratt Detroit. First Lieutenant, William E. Lewis, St. Johns. Second Lieutenant, James S. Donohue, Flint.
3. Captain, Ralph Ely, Alma. First Lieutenant, George S. Gordon, Alma. Second Lieutenant, Charles B. Holliday, Alma.
4. Captain, Benjamin B. Church, Grand Rapids. First Lieutenant, John C. Buchanan, Grand Rapids. Second Lieutenant, Benjamin F. Porter, Grand Rapids.
5. Captain, Matthew Elder, Lansing. First Lieutenant, Abram Cotrell, Lansing. Second Lieutenant, _____, _____.
6. Captain, Nelson H. Walbridge, Richland. First Lieutenant, Trav­erse Phillips, Hastings. Second Lieutenant, Jacob Maus, Hastings.
7. Captain, Ephraim N. Lyon, Flint. First Lieutenant, Horatio Bel­cher, Flint. Second Lieutenant, N. Miner Pratt, Flint.
8. Captain, Alfred B. Turner, Grand Rapids. First Lieutenant, Rich­ard N. Doyle, Georgetown. Second Lieutenant, William A. Brown, Ann Arbor.
9. Captain, Jay L. Quackenbush. Owosso. First Lieutenant, Albert Bainbridge, Byron. Second Lieutenant, James C. Merrell, Corunna.
11. Captain, George Proudfit, Jackson. First Lieutenant, Reuben S. Cheney, Moscow. Second Lieutenant, William P. Miner, Moscow.

It left Detroit, Sept. 27, 1861, and arrived at Washington the 30th, with an enrollment of 915 officers and men. The regiment was assigned to the “Expeditionary Corps,” under General T. W. Sherman, and saw service along the coast at Hilton Haed, Beaufort, S. C., Coosaw River and Tybee Island, Ga. In April, 1862, the regiment had a severe engagement with the enemy on Wilmington Island, where it lost heavily in killed and wounded. At Secessionville on James Island the regiment distinguished itself by a bayonet charge upon the enemy’s works, and though their ranks were swept by the enemy’s artillery, not a gun was fired until the paraphet was reached. Here the enemy’s fire was so destructive that it was impos­sible to enter the works and the assaulting party was obliged to withdraw, with a loss of 13 killed, 98 wounded, 35 prisoners, and 36 missing.

In July the regiment left James Island and after a series of embarkations and marches, reached Bull Run, Va., where it was engaged Aug. 29 and 30 as part of the First Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps. After long marches in the Maryland Campaign of 1862 the regiment was heavily engaged at South Mountain and Antietam, Sept. 14 and 17.

In March, 1863, the Eighth was ordered to Louisville, Ky., and thence to Vicksburg, Miss., where it arrived on the 17th. The regiment was en­gaged in the marches about Vicksburg, especially at Jackson, Miss., and then started for Knoxville, Tenn., by way of Crab Orchard and Cumber­land Gap, where it arrived on the 26th of September.

When General Longstreet marched through Tennessee the Eighth was among the troops that met him at Campbell Station, west of Knox­ville, and after a severe encounter fell back to the works on College Hill in Knoxville. During the siege, the Eighth was in the advanced works and suffered much in common with the whole corps, on account of the in­clement weather, the want of clothing and tents, and the scarcity of rations.

After General Longstreet withdrew his forces from Knoxville, the Eighth started in pursuit and went as far as Rutledge, East Tennessee, and then retired to Blain’s Cross Roads.

At this camp the regiment veteranized, 283 re-enlisting, and commenced a 200-mile march across the Cumberland Mountains over horrible roads, in sleety, cold weather, the march averaging 20 miles a day, and arrived at Nicholasville, Ky., Jan. 19, 1864.

The regiment reached Detroit, Mich., on the 25th and was furloughed for 30 days. After the expiration of the 30 days’ furlough, the Eighth as­sembled at Flint and started on the 9th of March, via. Cincinnati, to join the Ninth Corps, which was then at Annapolis, Md.   ,

On the 4th of May, 1864, the regiment, with the balance of the Ninth Corps, started on the campaign under General Grant through Virginia. It formed a part of the First Brigade, Third Division, of the celebrated Ninth Corps, and crossed the Rapidan at Germania Ford the 5th, and was en­gaged in the battle of the Wilderness the 6th. In this battle the regiment reported a loss of 99 killed, wounded and missing. Colonel Graves, com­manding the regiment, was killed.

The Eighth was in the assault on the enemy’s works at Spottsylvania on the 12th, and suffered severely. The regimental commander reported a loss of 49 officers and men in this assault.

At Bethesda Church, June 3, the regiment in a desperate encounter with the enemy lost 52 killed, wounded and missing. The Eighth crossed James river on the 15th and lost 49 officers and men the 17th and 18th be­fore Petersburg.

The regiment occupied different positions during the siege of Peters­burg, almost always under fire, and took part in the battles along the Weldon R. R., Ream’s Station, Poplar Grove Church, Fort Steadman, and when Petersburg fell it was one of the first Union regiments to march into that city.

After the surrender of General Lee, April 9, 1865, the Eighth moved to City Point, where it embarked on transports for Alexandria, Va., and reached Washington, May 9. The regiment, under Colonel Ralph Ely, started for Michigan, Aug. 1, and arrived at Detroit the 3d, where it was paid off and disbanded.

The Eighth, during its term of service, was engaged with the enemy at Port Royal, S. C, Nov. 7, 1861; Coosaw River, S. C., Dec. 18, 1861; Port Royal Ferry, S. C., Jan. 1, 1862; Pocotaligo, S. C., April —, 1862; Fort Pulaski, Ga., April 14, 1862; Wilmington Island, Ga., April 16, 1862; James Island, S. C., June 16, 1862; Bull Run, Second, Va., Aug. 29, 1862; Chantilly, Va., Sept. 1, 1862; South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14, 1862; Antietam, Md., Sept. 17, 1862; Fredericksburg, Va., Dec. 12, 13, and 14, 1862; siege of Vicksburg, Miss., June 22 to July 4, 1863; Jackson, Miss., July 11 to 18, 1863; Blue Springs, Tenn., Oct. 10, 1863; Loudon, Tenn., Nov. 14, 1863; Lenoir Station, Tenn., Nov. 15, 1863; Campbell’s Station, Tenn., Nov. 16, 1863; siege of Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 17 to Dec. 5, 1863; Fort Saunders, Tenn., Nov. 29, 1863; Wilderness, Va., May 5, 6, and 7, 1864; Spottsylvania, Va., May 10, 11, and 12, 1864; North Anna, Va., May 24 and 25, 1864; Bethesda Church, Va., June 2 and 3, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June 7, 1864; Petersburg, Va., June 17 and 18, 1864; The Crater, Va., July 30, 1864; Weldon Railroad, Va., Aug. 19 to 21, 1864; Ream’s Station, Va., Aug. 25, 1864; Poplar Spring Church, Va., Sept. 30, 1864; Pegram Farm, Va., Oct. 2, 1864; Boydton Road, Va., Oct. 8, 1864; Hatcher’s Run, Va., Oct. 27 and 28, 1864; Fort Steadman, Va., March 25, 1865; Fort Mahon, Va., April 2, 1865; capture of Petersburg, April 3, 1865; siege of Petersburg, from June 17, 1864, to April 3, 1865.