Grant's Men: The 8th Illinois Infantry

Closely associated with Ulysses S. Grant, the 8^th Illinois Infantry apprenticed in Missouri then took an active part in the Fort Henry/Fort Donelson campaign, the battle of Shiloh, and the Vicksburg campaign. Following their veteran furlough, these Illinois men served around Mobile and then ended their careers on occupation duty in Texas and Louisiana; they were not mustered out until May 1866.

For more information about the 8^th Illinois, see the following:

Battle of Raymond: Private Gouldsmith D. Molineaux’s diary description of the battle of Raymond are on this website

Illinois in the Civil War: a roster and short histories of the 8^th are on this website

Wills, Charles Wright. Army Life of an Illinois Soldier. Southern Illinois University Press, 1996. [served for part of his career in the 8^th Illinois]

William F. Fox included the 8^th Illinois Infantry in his list of “300 Fighting Regiments,” and his history of the regiment appears below.

“Stevenson’s Brigade —Logan's Division--Seventeenth Corps.

（1) Col. Richard Oglesby; Major-Gen.	（3) Col. John P Post.
（2) Col. Frank L. Rhoads.	（4) Col. Josiah A. Sheets; Bvt. Brig.-Gen.

Companies.		killed and died of wounds.			died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c.			Total Enrollment.
		Officers.	Men.	Total.	Officers.	Men.	Total.
Field and Staff			1	1		1	1	16
Company	A	1	21	22		12	12	184
	B	1	15	16		16	16	190
	C		16	16		18	18	193
	D		14	14		13	13	199
	E		15	15		12	12	198
	F	2	14	16		20	20	186
	G		10	10		14	14	187
	H		16	16		20	20	186
	I		17	17		10	10	193
	K	2	21	23		19	19	197
Totals		6	160	166		155	155	1,929

Of the original enrollment enlisted in 1861, there were 148 killed.

Total of killed and wounded, 551.

Battles.	K. & M. W.	Battles.	K. & M. W.
Charleston, Mo.	1	Siege of Vicksburg	10
Fort Donelson, Tenn.	81	Jackson, Miss.	6
Shiloh, Tenn.	32	Spanish Fort, Ala.	1
Raymond, Miss.	12	Fort Blakely, Ala.	15
Champion's Hill, Miss.	5	Memphis, Tenn.	1
Milliken’s Bend, La.	1	Steamer “Moderator” (1863）	1

Present, also, at Siege of Corinth; Port Gibson; Brownsville; Meridian.

Notes.--Mustered in April 25, 1861, for three months, after which it reorganized and mustered in for three years. Leaving Cairo in October, it served in Missouri until February, 1862, when it moved with Grant up the Tennessee River to Fort Henry, and thence to Fort Donelson, where it was actively engaged in the assault, being then in Oglesby's (1st) Brigade, McClernand's Division; loss, 54 killed and 188 wounded,--a total of 242, out of 613 officers and men engaged. At Shiloh, under command of Captain Robert H. Sturgess, it lost 30 killed, 91 wounded, and 3 missing, out of 474 engaged. After the Siege of Corinth, May, 1862, the Eighth shared in Grant’s Tennesee and Mississippi campaigns, prior to the investment of Vicksburg. During the Vicksburg campaign it was in Stevenson's (3d) Brigade, Logan's Division, Seventeenth Corps. At the battle of Raymond it lost 8 killed and 19 wounded; at Champion's Hill, 2 killed, 7 wounded, and 3 missing; and in the assault on Vicksburg, May 22, 4 killed and 19 wounded. The regiment remained in Mississippi during 1864, reenlisting in the meantime, and going home on its veteran furlough. On January 1, 1865, it left Memphis for New Orleans, proceeding thence, in March, to Mobile, where it was prominently engaged in the siege of that place. In the successful assault on Fort Blakely, April 9, 1865, it lost 10 killed and 54 wounded; its colors were the first on the enemy's works, the color-sergeant falling dead in the charge. In June, 1864, the recruits left in the field by the Seventeenth Illinois, upon its return home, were transferred to the Eighth. The regiment remained on duty in Louisiana and Texas until the spring of 1866, and was finally mustered out at Baton Rouge, May 4, 1866” (Fox, p. 353).