8th Artillery Regiment
Civil War
Albany County Regiment; Seymour Guard.

History
The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Frederick Phisterer. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, 1912.

Mustered in as the 129th regiment of infantry: August 22, 1862
Designated 8th regiment of artillery (heavy): December 19, 1862
Mustered out: June 5, 1865

Col. Peter A. Porter received, July 7, 1862, authority to recruit a regiment in the counties of Genesee, Niagara and Orleans. This regiment was, August 28, 1862, designated the 129th Regiment of Infantry. It was organized at Lockport, and there mustered in the service of the United States for three years, August 22, 1862. It was converted into a regiment of artillery, and December 19, 1862, designated the 8th Regiment of Artillery. Two additional companies were organized at Lockport in December, 1863, and January, 1864, and mustered in the United States service for one and three years.

Three companies were recruited in the county of Genesee, three in the county of Orleans, and four in Niagara county; Company L at Bennington, Bergen, Lewiston, Pavilion, LeRoy, Oakfield, Bethany, Pembroke, Alabama, Darien, Alexandria, Batavia, Rochester, Middleburg and Stafford; and M at Warsaw, China, Rochester, Sheldon, Lima, Lockport, Avon, Java and Wethersfield.

The regiment (ten companies) left the State August 23, 1862, and served as heavy artillery and infantry at Baltimore, Md., and vicinity from August 27, 1862; at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., from July 10, 1863; at Baltimore, Md,, and vicinity from August 3, 1863, in the Middle Department, 8th Corps. Companies L and M joined in February, 1864, and the regiment served in Tyler's Division, 2d Corps, from May 17, 1864; in the 4th Brigade, 2d Division, 2d Corps, from May 29, 1864; and in the 2d Brigade, 2d Division, 2d Corps, from June 26, 1864.

June 5, 1865, Companies A to K were, under the command of Lieut-Col. Joseph W. Holmes, mustered out and honorably discharged at Munson's Hill, Va.; the men not discharged with their respective companies were transferred, those of Companies G, H, I and K to the 4th N. Y. Volunteer Artillery, and those of Companies A, B, C, D, E and F, and also Companies L and M, to the 10th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry, of which the men of Companies A, D and F formed Company K; those of B, C and E Company I; Company L became Company H and M Company G.

During its service the regiment lost by death, killed in action, 11 officers, 199 enlisted men; of wounds received in action, 9 officers, 145 enlisted men; of disease and other causes, 4 officers, 302 enlisted men; total, 24 officers, 646 enlisted men; aggregate, 670; of whom I officer and 113 enlisted men died in the hands of the enemy

Battles and Casualties Table from Phisterer

Civil War Newspaper Clippings

Unit Roster

Further Reading
This is meant to be a comprehensive list. If, however, you know of a resource that is not listed below, please send an email to int-historians@ng.army.mil with the name of the resource and where it is located. This can include photographs, letters, articles and other non-book materials. Also, if you have any materials in your possession that you would like to donate, the museum is always looking for items specific to New York's military heritage. Thank you.

Armstrong, Nelson. Nuggets of experience, narratives of the sixties and other days, with graphic descriptions of thrilling personal adventures, by Dr. Nelson Armstrong, V.S., late of the Eighth New York heavy artillery. [Los Angeles]: Times- Mirror, 1906.

Baker, Joel B. and Naomi B. Baker. Letters home, Joel B. Baker : a collection of "letters home" from the Civil War written by Colonel Joel B. Baker and compiled by his great-grandaughter, Naomi B. Baker. [Delevan, NY: N.B. Baker]; Lockport, NY: C.W. Baker Agency [distributor], 1996.
Reource submitted by Tom Pitcher.

Bliss, Henry K. Henry K. Bliss Collection.
25 Letters. Photocopies and transcriptions.
Donated by Mary H. Edwards.

Century Association, New York. Proceedings of the Century association in honor of the memory of Brig.-Gen. James S. Wadsworth and Colonel Peter A. Porter, with eulogies read by William J. Hoppin and Frederic S. Cozzens, December 3, 1864. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1865.

"Correspondence from the 8th New York Artillery." Republican Advocate, Batavia, Genesee County, New York: July 28-1863.
Written from Harper's Ferry; March to Maryland Heights; Appointments of Col. Porter, Surgeon Leet, Lt. JR Cooper, Gen. Nagle

Cozzens, Frederic Swartwout. Colonel Peter A. Porter, a memorial delivered before the Century, in December, 1864, by Frederic S. Cozzens. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1865.

Hudnut, James Monroe. Casualties by battles and by names of the Eighth New York heavy artillery, August 22, 1862 — June 5, 1865, together with a review of the service of the Regiment fifty years after muster-in, by James M. Hudnut, late Quartermaster Sergeant of Company D. New York: 1913.

Hudnut, James Monroe. Historical roll of Company D, 8th regiment, New-York heavy artillery, originally 129th N.Y. infantry. Edited by James M. Hudnut. Revised edition. New York: De Vinne press, 1887.

Hudnut, James Monroe. Losses of the Eighth New-York heavy artillery, 2d brigade, 2d division, 2d corps, compiled by William F. Fox, printed as a supplement to "Historical roll of Co. D, 8th New-York heavy artillery. [1887].

Proceedings of the second annual meeting of the Association of the surviving officers of Col. Peter A. Porter's reg't, (Eighth N.Y.H.Art'y,) at Batavia, N.Y., August 22, 1866. Rochester: Stump & South-worth, printers, 1866.

Rix, Guy Scoby. Roster of the known living members of Col. Peter A. Porter's regiment, 8th New York heavy artillery, Second brigade, Second division, Second corps, compiled by Guy S. Rix. Concord, New Hampshire: 1892.

Back to Civil War Artillery Units