{{Infobox military unit , unit_name= 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment , image=Flag of Michigan.svg , image_size=100px , caption=Michigan state flag , dates= September 23, 1861, to June 30, 1865 , country= United States , allegiance= Union , branch= Infantry , equipment= , battles=

Port Royal Expedition The Battle of Port Royal was one of the earliest amphibious operations of the American Civil War, in which a United States Navy fleet and United States Army expeditionary force captured Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, between Savannah, Geor ...

James Island, S.C.
Battle of Secessionville

Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

Battle of Chantilly
Battle of South Mountain

Battle of Antietam The Battle of Antietam (), or Battle of Sharpsburg particularly in the Southern United States, was a battle of the American Civil War fought on September 17, 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union G ...

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...

Siege of Vicksburg

Battle of the Wilderness The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Arm ...

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
Battle of Cold Harbor
Siege of Petersburg

Battle of the Crater The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the siege of Petersburg. It took place on Saturday, July 30, 1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee, and the Union Arm ...

The 8th Michigan Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Service

The 8th Michigan Infantry was organized at

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...

and Detroit, Michigan and mustered into Federal service for a three-year enlistment on September 23, 1861. The Eight Michigan was known as the "Wandering Regiment" for its service on many fronts and its frequent reassignments between different armies and geographical areas. The regiment began its service by being assigned to General

Thomas W. Sherman Thomas West Sherman (March 26, 1813 – December 31, 1879) was a United States Army officer with service during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. While some contemporaries mistakenly identified him as the brother of the more f ...

in South Carolina where he was establishing a beachhead to provide a base for the naval blockade. From there the regiment went to Virginia and was assigned to General Burnside's 9th Corps. The Eighth saw service in both the eastern and western theaters of operation. The Eighth fought in several major battles in the east, was then sent to support General Grant at Vicksburg, and finally being dispatched to east Tennessee before finishing out the war with the Army of the Potomac in Virginia. The regiment was mustered out on June 30, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 11 officers and 212 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 3 officers and 223 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 449 fatalities.http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unmiinf2.htm#8th The Civil War Archive website after Dyer, Frederick Henry. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 vols. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1959.

Commanders

* Colonel

William M. Fenton William Matthew Fenton (December 19, 1808 – November 12, 1871) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. He is the namesake of the city of Fenton, Michigan. Early life Fenton was born in Norwich, New York in 1808 and graduated ...

* Colonel Ralph Ely

Notes

References

The Civil War Archive
Units and formations of the Union Army from Michigan 1865 disestablishments in Michigan 1861 establishments in Michigan Military units and formations established in 1861 Military units and formations disestablished in 1865

Service

Total strength and casualties

Commanders

See also

Notes

References