The VIII Corps was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Creation and early service

The corps was initially created out of various Union commands as part of the Middle Department in the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

on July 12, 1862, and was placed under the command of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

John E. Wool. It spent most of 1862 guarding the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

lines between

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

, and

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

. The corps, then led by

Robert C. Schenck Robert Cumming Schenck (October 4, 1809 – March 23, 1890) was a Union Army general in the American Civil War, and American diplomatic representative to Brazil and the United Kingdom. He was at both battles of Bull Run and took part in Jack ...

, played a major role in the early stages of the Gettysburg Campaign, where elements of the corps unsuccessfully opposed Robert E. Lee's initial advance through the Shenandoah. The second division, under Robert H. Milroy, suffered heavy casualties during the

Second Battle of Winchester The Second Battle of Winchester was fought between June 13 and June 15, 1863 in Frederick County and Winchester, Virginia as part of the Gettysburg Campaign during the American Civil War. As Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell move ...

on June 13–15, 1863, and elements of the corps also took part in the delaying action at Martinsburg a few days later. The badly battered corps withdrew to Harpers Ferry after that, playing no further role in the campaign, until it helped join in

George G. Meade George Gordon Meade (December 31, 1815 – November 6, 1872) was a United States Army officer and civil engineer best known for decisively defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. H ...

's pursuit of Lee following the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

Defense of Washington and Garrison Duty in 1864

''(See Valley Campaigns of 1864 for a more detailed description of the campaigns mentioned below.)'' The VIII Corps played a major part in the defense of Washington from

Jubal Early Jubal Anderson Early (November 3, 1816 – March 2, 1894) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who became a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Trained at the United States Military Academy, Early resigned his U.S. Army commissio ...

Monocacy Monocacy (Shawnee language, Shawnee: ''Monnockkeseymay'') may refer to the Monocacy River in Maryland, USA. Monocacy may also refer to: Other streams *Little Monocacy River, a tributary of the Potomac River in Maryland *Monocacy Creek (Lehigh Riv ...

on July 9, 1864 under the commander of Maj. Gen.

Lew Wallace Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is ...

. The primary duty of the VIII Corps in 1864 was rear echelon duties in Maryland guarding the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Elements of the corps also battled Confederate cavalry as it raided across Maryland to the suburbs of Baltimore during Early's Raid on Washington. The headquarters of the department was located in Baltimore.

Army of West Virginia

The VIII Corps is often confused with the

Army of West Virginia The Army of West Virginia served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was the primary field army of the Department of West Virginia. It campaigned primarily in West Virginia, Southwest Virginia and in the Shenandoah Valley. It is not ...

which served in the Shenandoah Valley and western Virginia throughout 1864. This confusion stems from the Army of West Virginia being composed of troops that had served in the Eighth Corps in 1863 but were officially transferred to the Department of West Virginia by the time of the 1864 Campaigns. It is furthermore confusing in the fact that the Army of West Virginia functioned as a corps within the Army of the Shenandoah. The result was references to the Army of West Virginia as the VIII Corps even though they were never officially synonymous.

Command history

References

* Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, .
VIII Corps history
{{Union Army Formations 08 Military units and formations established in 1862 1862 establishments in the United States Military units and formations disestablished in 1865