EIGHTH REGIMENT INFANTRY
USCT
Commanding Officer
Colonel John W. Fuller

This regiment was ready for the field in December, 1863, and left Philadelphia for Hilton Head, S. C., on January 16th, 1863 from which point it was ordered to Jacksonville, Fla. At the battle of Olustee, a point about fifty miles westward from that city, on February 20th the ”8th” met with disastrous losses. Among the wounded was Capt. (afterward Lieut. Col.) George E. Wagner, brother of Gen. Louis Wagner. After several months of further campaigning in Florida, the regiment was sent to the Tenth Corps, operating in front of Richmond and Petersburg. The ”8th” was engaged in the battles of Chaffin’s Farm (Fort Harrison), Darbytown Road and the second Fair Oaks. After wintering in the trenches before Richmond the regiment participated in the final struggle around Petersburg, and was present at the scene of the surrender at Appomattox. After several weeks of duty at Petersburg, the ”8th” was sent by transport to Texas, serving there until November. The regiment was mustered out on the 20th, and finally discharged at Philadelphia December 12th, 1865.

TOTAL LOSSES

• Killed or mortally wounded officers…4
• Killed or mortally wounded men…115
• Died of disease men…132
• Wounded, not mortally men…245
• Captured or missing men…72

BATTLES

• Olustee
• Bermuda Hundred
• Chaffin’s Farm
• Darbytown Road
• Siege of Petersburg
• Hatcher’s Run
• Fall of Petersburg
• Pursuit of Lee
• Appomattox Court House

Note: This regiment is included in the well-known and often quoted list of “Three Hundred Fighting Regiments.” Fox.