8th Ohio Cavalry

The 8th Regiment, Ohio Cavalry was a regiment of cavalry raised by the state of Ohio for service during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater, primarily in West Virginia and then in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia.

Organization and service

The 8th Ohio Cavalry was formed on January 4, 1864, from among members of the former 44th Ohio Infantry, under the command of Col. Samuel A. Gilbert. Organized and mustered into service in March 1864 at Camp Dennison in Cincinnati, it first served in West Virginia and was attached to 1st Brigade, 2nd Cavalry Division, Army of West Virginia. It saw considerable service during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 under Philip H. Sheridan, fighting in several key battles that led to the defeat of the Confederate Army of the Valley.^[1]

Most of the regiment was captured by the Confederates during an engagement at Beverly, West Virginia, on January 11, 1865, and those men were mustered out as prisoners of war in June 1865 and returned to Ohio. The remainder (4 companies that were on detached duty in Clarksburg, West Virginia) mustered out at the end of July.^[2]

During its term of service, the regiment (both as 44th Ohio Infantry and 8th Ohio Cavalry) lost 3 officers and 53 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 1 officer and 113 enlisted men by disease (for a total of 210).^[3]

References

• Stevens, Larry. 8th Ohio Cavalry, 1995.
• 8th Ohio Regiment - Unit Bibliography, U.S. Army Military History Institute, 1995.
• Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System

Notes

Further reading

• Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 2, Dayton: Morningside Press, 1979, p. 1478.
• Reid, Whitelaw, Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals and Soldiers...., Vol. 2, Cincinnati, OH: Wilstach, Baldwin, 1872, pp. 804, 807.
• St. John, Volney. "Men's Souls Were Tried," National Tribune Scrapbook II, pp. 30, 32.

Ohio in the American Civil War
1861	Early military recruiting Camp Chase Camp Dennison Camp Harrison Camp Thomas Department of the Ohio McClellan's Buckeyes seize western Virginia Fighting McCooks Johnson's Island POW camp
1862	Anti-war movement Knights of the Golden Circle First Confederate incursion into Ohio Defense of Cincinnati Black Brigade of Cincinnati
1863	"Fort Fizzle" Morgan's Raid Battle of Buffington Island Battle of Salineville
1864-65	Hundred Days Men Ohio's generals and admirals Ohio's regiments Cincinnati in the War Cleveland in the War Buckeye POWs and the Sultana
Post-war	Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument