8TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The 8TH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY REGIMENT was organized 29 Apr.-2 May 1861 at Camp Taylor (see CIVIL WAR CAMPS IN CLEVELAND) and was mustered into service in the CIVIL WAR for 3 months on 2 May. Monuments to the 8th Ohio stand at the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefield sites. Its 9 companies were composed of men from northern Ohio, with Co. B representing the HIBERNIAN GUARDS. The 8th Ohio was transferred on 3 May to Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati. The regiment answered Pres. Lincoln's call for regiments of 3 years' duration on 22 June. In July the 8th Regiment was transferred to the (West) Virginia theater of operations, where it engaged in a number of skirmishes. It participated in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign against the forces of General "Stonewall" Jackson from Mar.-June 1862, when it was sent to the Peninsula region of Virginia. The regiment was involved in the Maryland Campaign (6-22 Sept.), gaining distinction at the Battle of Antietam (17 Sept.).

The 8th also participated in the Battle of Fredericksburg (13 Dec. 1862) and the Chancellorsville Campaign (27 Apr.-6 May 1863). Its greatest glory was achieved during the Battle of Gettysburg. On 2 July, the regiment was ordered beyond the Emmitsburg Rd. to drive Confederates from the Union line. It remained entrenched, unrelieved and undergoing constant enemy fire, throughout 2-3 July and during "Pickett's Charge." Following the Battle of Gettysburg, the 8th was placed on detached duty to New York City to restore order following the draft riots of July. It returned to the Army of the Potomac in Sept. and engaged in a number of skirmishes until spring 1864.

The regiment participated in the Wilderness Campaign from 3 May-15 June 1864. It remained entrenched before Petersburg, VA, until 25 June, when its term of service expired. The regiment was officially mustered out of service on 13 July 1864. A total of 205 members of the 8th Ohio Regiment died during its term of service, including 8 officers and 124 enlisted men in battle and 1 officer and 72 enlisted men from disease.

Galwey, Thomas Francis. The Valiant Hours (1961).

Sawyer, Franklin. A Military History of the Eighth Regiment (1881).