From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

8th New York Infantry Regiment

Field	Value
unit_name	8th New York Infantry Regiment
image	Flag of the 8th New York Infantry Regiment (Obverse).svg
image_size	100
dates	April 23, 1861, to April 23, 1863
country	United States
allegiance	Union
branch	Infantry
battles	{{plainlist

Great Falls
First Battle of Bull Run
Battle of Cross Keys
Battle of New Market
Battle of Rappahannock Station I
Second Battle of Bull Run }}

The 8th New York Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as the First German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles.

Service

8th New York officers garbed in the same uniforms that they wore to the Mexican War

Reverse of the Regimental flag.

The 8th (the 1st German Rifles) was recruited in New York City, there mustered into federal service on April 23 1861, for two years, and left for Washington on May 27 under the command of Col. Louis Blenker. At Miller's Farm the troops encamped and on July 10 were ordered to move toward Manassas as part of the 2nd brigade, 4th division of the Army of the Potomac. During the battle of Bull Run the 8th was held in reserve and assisted in covering the retreat. At the beginning of the battle, Varian's New York Battery under the regiment were only one of two 3-month service volunteer units to refuse participation and walk away from the battlefield. Both units were strongly criticized for its actions.

The following winter it was quartered at Roach's Mills and Hunter's Chapel, VA, moved to Winchester in March, 1862, and in May joined Maj. Gen. Fremont at Petersburg. It participated in the pursuit of Lieut. Gen. Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley, and as part of Blenker's division fought at the battles of Cross Keys and New Market. In the battle of Cross Keys its killed, wounded and missing numbered 220 out of a total of 550 engaged.

At Middletown, the 8th was assigned to the 1st brigade, 1st division, I Corps, Army of Virginia, under Maj. Gen. Pope, and with that army took part in the battles of Sulphur springs and the second Bull Run. In September, it became a part of XI Corps and reached Fredericksburg immediately after the battle; camped during the winter at Stafford Court House and Brooks' station, and was mustered out of the service at the latter place on April 23, 1863.

The members whose term of service had not expired were formed into one company, the independent company 8th NY, and performed guard duty at the corps headquarters until April 5, 1864, when they were assigned to the 68th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The 8th lost 93 members by death from wounds, and 40 from disease, accident and imprisonment.

Casualties

The regiment suffered 369 fatalities.

Commanders

Colonel Louis Blenker
Colonel Julius Stahel
Colonel Francis Wutschell
Colonel Felix Salm-Salm

References

Footnotes

Citations

Sources

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

units-and-formations-of-the-union-army-from-new-york-(state) 1861-establishments-in-new-york-(state) military-units-and-formations-established-in-1861 military-units-and-formations-disestablished-in-1863

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 8th New York Infantry Regiment — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report