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).

Missouri Treasures

There are lots of trans-Mississippi resources available for researchers! Are you as skeptical as this gentleman?

Don't be! The Missouri Digital Heritage website boasts over 500,000  digitized Civil War era records, Yes, you read that correctly. Essentially all of these records relate to the trans-Mississippi with Missouri, of course, being the focus.

Here are just a few of the collections that are digitized:

Boone County Historical Society Civil War Collection
Civil War Manuscripts, State Historical Society of Missouri
Missouri Judicial Records, Missouri State Archives
Palmyra Massacre Collection
St. Louis Area Civil War Digitization Project
Union Provost Marshal Records
Cape Girardeau Argus
St. Louis Daily Missouri Republican
Governor Hamilton Rowan Gamble Papers
Freedom Suits Case Files, 1814-1860


Additionally, the website features research guides, lesson plans, videos, and links to related websites. Impressive!! 

Missouri Civil War Battle Flags

Civil War battle flags are amazing relics, and it is moving to contemplate the men who carried them, those who manufactured the flags, as well as those who have worked so hard to conserve them. I was delighted to learn recently that the Missouri State Museum has placed online the photographs and descriptions of 45 conserved flags (both Union and Confederate). Check out the special exhibit of Missouri Civil War Battle Flags!

Trans-Mississippi Units at Shiloh

Today marks the Sesquicentennial of the last day of the battle of Shiloh, a battle at which trans-Mississippi units played an important role. Below is a list of trans-Mississippi states that fielded units at Shiloh along with the number of units. Casualty totals are provided for Union units.

Union:

Iowa: 11 infantry units

Total casualties from Iowa units: 235 killed, 999 wounded, 1,149 missing or captured (most were captured)= 2,383

Minnesota: 1 Battery

Total casualties: 3 killed, 8 wounded=11

Missouri: 7 infantry units and 5 Batteries

Total casualties from Missouri units: 104 killed, 407 wounded, 659 missing or captured (most were captured)=1,170

Nebraska: 1 infantry unit

Total casualties: 4 killed, 22 wounded, 2 missing=28

Total for trans-Mississippi Union units: 346 killed, 1,436 wounded, 1,810 missing or captured=3,592

Confederate:

Arkansas: 10 infantry units and 4 Batteries

Louisiana: 11 infantry units and 2 Batteries

Missouri: 1 infantry unit

Texas: 2 infantry units and 1 Cavalry unit

The Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway

While traveling home from Tucson recently, I was startled to see this monument at a rest area near Lordsburg, New Mexico, on Interstate 10:

At the time, I wondered if the monument related in some way to Davis’ establishment of a Camel Corps in the mid 1850s while he served as Secretary of War. But, as it turns out the main clue on the monument is the mention of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. According to an article by Richard F. Weingroff on the U. S. Department of Transportation's website, the United Daughters of the Confederacy promoted the idea of a Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway beginning in 1913. The Daughters envisioned a transcontinental highway that would be the southern counterpart of the Lincoln Highway. Apparently several other Jefferson Davis Memorial Highways were established as well. So, although it is not directly related to the Civil War, I found this little story deserving of a short posting.

Picacho Pass: April 1862

Recently I went on a road trip to Tucson, Arizona, with my mom and a friend. While there, my uncle kindly drove us to Picacho Peak State Park along Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix. I had long wanted to visit this place as the site of the Picacho Pass skirmish is nearby. This was not the only clash between Union and Confederate soldiers in the Arizona Territory, but it is the most famous. Taking place on either April 15^th or April 16^th (the 15^th seems to be the most accepted), the skirmish erupted as thirteen men led by Lieutenant James Barrett of the 1^st California Cavalry scouted east of El Picacho, a 3,374 foot mountain. Another detachment was to pass to the west side of the mountain. The detachments were to capture a Confederate force stationed in the pass. Instead, Barrett and his men attacked the ten men from Captain Sherod Hunter’s Arizona Rangers. The fighting lasted for approximately one hour and a half; by the end Lieutenant Barrett had fallen dead along with Private George Johnson and W. S. Leonard (mortally wounded). Privates James Botsford, Peter Gann, and William Tobin were wounded. The Confederates lost three men captured: Sergeant Henry Holmes, William Dwyer, and John Hill. These three men were taken to Fort Yuma, California, where they were paroled in December 1862. The three prisoners maintained that a sizable force defended Tucson, and as a result, the Unionists retreated about forty miles. This small military action probably ended up delaying the advance of the California Column by a few weeks. An excellent source for this skirmish is Andrew E. Masich’s The Civil War In Arizona: The Story Of The California Volunteers, 1861-1865, a book that I have highlighted in an earlier posting. For other information about the events at Picacho Pass, the Picacho Peak State Park website includes a 4:35 minute video about the Civil War in the Southwest.

During my visit to Picacho Peak State Park, the weather was unstable with sleet falling intermittently. Here is a view of Picacho Pass where the skirmish took place:

According to Masich’s book, “In 1928 the Arizona Historical Society and the Southern Pacific Railroad erected a fifteen-foot stone obelisk in the railroad right of way between the tracks and the peak on a spot a railroad signal superintendent believed to be Barrett’s burial site” (p. 42). In 1975, the obelisk was moved near the entrance to the state park after a bronze plaque on the obelisk was stolen.

The park even includes a map depicting the action at Picacho Pass:

A courtyard area includes a wall with special plaques:

Lovely saguaro cacti dot the slopes of Picacho Peak and the Pass. This magnificent saguaro specimen on the slope of Picacho Peak may have witnessed the nearby skirmish.