History of Shiawassee and Clinton counties, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of their prominent men and pioneers.

EIGHTH INFANTRY.

57

unfortunate mistake was an order for the troops to retire,
which they did in perfect order, taking position on the old
picket-line."
In the Scottish American newspaper, of New York, there
appeared, a few days after the battle, a communication from
an officer of the Seventy-ninth Highlanders, in which the
gallantry of the Eighth at Secessionville is thus noticed:
"I should mention that the Eighth Michigan, small in
number, but every man a hero, had been repulsed from the
fort, with terrible loss, just as we advanced. The Michigan
men could not have numbered four hundred when they advanced; when they retired they had one hundred and
ninety killed and wounded. One company alone lost, I understand, no less than ninety-eight men. The ordeal through
which they had passed the Seventy-ninth were now experiencing. Shot down by unseen enemies, and without having
an opportunity of returning the fire with any effect, the
men got discouraged, but remained stubbornly on the
ground until the order was given to retire,-an order, let
me say, which was only rendered necessary by the shameful
fact that, notwithstanding the strong force within supporting distance, no support came. The fort was ours had we
received assistance, but it is a fact that cannot be gainsaid
that every man who fell around its ramparts belonged to the
Eighth Michigan and the Seventy-ninth New York,-the
two weakest regiments, in point of numbers, in the whole
force under command of Gen. Benham."
The Eighth Regiment went into the fight with a total
strength of five hundred and thirty-four officers and men,
and its loss in the assault was, according to the surgeon's
report, one hundred and forty-seven killed and wounded
and thirty-seven missing; this being more than one-third
of the number engaged. The first report of its loss made
it somewhat greater than this. Gen. Stevens, in his
" General Order No. 26," dated James Island, S. C., June
18, 1862, mentioned the heroism of the Eighth Michigan,
as follows: " Parties from the leading regiments of the two
brigades, the Eighth Michigan and Seventy-ninth Highlanders, mounted and were shot down on the parapet, officers and men. These two regiments especially covered
themselves with glory, and their fearful casualties show the
hot work in which they were engaged. Two-fifths of the
Eighth Michigan and nearly one-quarter of the Seventyninth Highlanders were down, either killed or wounded,
and all the remaining regiments had a large number of
casualties.... In congratulating his comrades on their
heroic valor and constancy on that terrible field, the
commanding general of the division has not words to express his and your grief at the sacrifice that has been
made. Our best and truest men now sleep the sleep that
knows no waking. Their dead bodies lie on the enemy's
parapet."
Gen. Stevens' command evacuated James Island on the
5th of July, the Eighth Regiment being the last to leave,
as it had been the first in the advance. Moving to Hilton
Head, it embarked there July 13th, with the Seventy-ninth
New York, Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, Seventh Con

necticut, and other regiments for Fortress Monroe, where
they arrived on the 16th, and landed at Newport News on
the following day. They knew they were destined to rein8

force the Army of the Potomac after its disasters in the
Seven Days' fight, and they did not like the change, for
they preferred to remain in the South, where their laurels
had been won. The Eighth remained three weeks in camp
at Newport News, and during this time Col. Fenton left for
Michigan to obtain recruits, and Lieut.-Col. Graves was
left in command of the regiment. The command left this
camp August 4th, and moving to the Rappahannock
River, took part in the campaign of Gen. Pope, fighting at
second Bull Run, August 29th and 30th, and at Chantilly,
September 1st, losing considerably in both engagements.
Soon after, it moved with the Ninth Army Corps (to
which it had been attached) into Maryland. It fought at
South Mountain, September 14th, losing thirteen, wounded,
and was again engaged in the great battle of Antietam,
September 17th. Early in that day it formed in line on
the right with its brigade, but about noon, when the battle
became general, it was ordered to the left, and took possession near the historic Stone Bridge. "A more terrific fire
than we here met with," wrote an officer of the regiment,
"it has not been my lot to witness. It equaled, if it did
not exceed, that of James Island. At first our men gained
ground and drove the enemy half a mile, but the battery
that covered our advance and answered to the enemy's in
front getting out of ammunition, together with the arrival
of a fresh rebel brigade from Harper's Ferry, flanking our
position and bringing our men under a cross-fire, changed
the fortunes of the day in their favor, and when night
closed upon the scene of carnage the enemy reoccupied the
ground wrested from them at such fearful sacrifice in the
afternoon." The bridge, however, was not retaken by the
enemy, and, although the Union forces had been driven
back here on the left, the advantage remained with them
on other parts of the field. The battle was not renewed to
any extent on the following day, and the enemy, while
keeping up the appearance of a strong line in front, retreated from his position to the Potomac, preparatory to
crossing back into Virginia.
The loss of the Eighth at Antietam was twenty-seven
killed and wounded,-a loss which appears quite severe
when it is remembered that the regiment went into action
with considerably less than two hundred men, having been
reduced not only by its terrible losses in previous battles,
but also by discharges; more than two hundred and fifty
men being discharged from the Eighth in the year 1862,
of whom just one hundred enlisted in the regular army.
The places of these were being filled to some extent by recruits, of whom a number joined the regiment the day'
before Antietam; and it was said of them that, although
they had never before heard a hostile gun, they endured
the terrible initiation of that day with almost the steadiness
of veterans.
For about a month after the battle the regiment remained in Maryland, a short time in the vicinity of Antietam, and a longer time in Pleasant Valley. On the 26th
of October it marched to Weverton, and thence to Berlin, Md., where it crossed the Potomac on pontoons into

Virginia. It passed through Lovettsville, Waterford,
Slack's Mills, Rectortown, and Salem, to Waterloo, where,
on the 11th of November, it received the announcement of