8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry

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Brief History

The 8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry was organized at St. Charles, Illinois, and mustered in September 18, 1861.  It was mustered out July 17, 1865.

For more information on the history of this unit, see:

• The Civil War Archive section, 8th Regiment Cavalry, (accessed 13 June 2012).
• The Wikipedia article, 8th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Cavalry (accessed 15 June 2012).

Companies in this Regiment with County of Origin

Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

The following counties of origin are taken from the Adjutant General's Report, found on the Illinois Civil War Rosters web site. Roster pages are from the same report found on the Internet Archives web site. The rosters show the men who served in each regiment, their residences, dates of enlistment and mustering out, and other remarks.

• Company A - many men from Kane County, Lake County, and Cook County - Kane, Lake and Cook county web sites -
• Company B - many men from DeKalb County and Kane County - De Kalb and Kane county web sites -
• Company C - many men from Whiteside County - Whiteside County web site -
• Company D - many men from Cook County and DuPage County - Cook and Du Page county web sites -
• Company E - many men from Cook County and DuPage County - Cook and Du Page county web sites -
• Company F - many men from Cook County and Will County - Cook and Will county web sites -
• Company G - many men from Cook County and McHenry County - Cook and McHenry county web sites -
• Company H - many men from McHenry County - McHenry County web site -
• Company I - many men from Kane County and McHenry County - Kane and McHenry county web sites -
• Company K - many men from Cook County, De Kalb County, and Will County - Cook, De Kalb and Will county web sites -
• Company L - many men from Winnebago County and Cook County - Winnebago and Cook county web sites -
• Company M - many men from Winnebago County and Cook County - Winnebago and Cook county web site -

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database lists 3,894 men on its roster for this unit. Roster.

Other Sources

• Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘Illinois in the Civil War’ and ‘United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865’ (see below).

• National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.

• Illinois in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for Illinois, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.

• United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.

• Forsyth, George Alexander. Thrilling days in army life. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1993) FHL Fiche 6084175

• Illinois Civil War Rosters from the Adjutant General's Report, 8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry (accessed 10 May 2011) includes rosters of all the regiments and information on the different companies in each regiment.