The Eighth Wisconsin Infantry, known as the Eagle Regiment for its bald eagle mascot Old Abe, entered Federal service at Madison, Wisconsin, on September 13, 1861, and was sent soon afterward to Missouri, where its gray uniforms briefly caused townspeople in St. Louis to mistake the soldiers for secessionists. The regiment moved into southeastern Missouri against Major General M. Jeff Thompson's Missouri State Guard, joined Colonel William P. Carlin's expedition toward Fredericktown, reached the town on October 21, and suffered its first death from an accidental firearm discharge while rushing to form a battle line. Held in reserve, it did not fight at Fredericktown but joined the unsuccessful pursuit the next day, then made an uneventful November expedition to Greenville, Missouri, before wintering along the Mississippi River. In March 1862, the regiment joined Brigadier General John S. Pope's army in operations against the Confederate river blockade at New Madrid, Missouri, and Island No. Ten, then helped capture Tiptonville, Tennessee, contributing to the surrender of Island No. Ten in April 1862. It left Missouri for two years, serving in the western theater, where Old Abe and the Eagle Company became widely recognized and where the bird came under fire in 37 battles and skirmishes, including the Battle of Corinth in October 1862, when his tether was shot through and he flew above the opposing lines. The regiment fought at Farmington and Corinth, took part in Ulysses S. Grant's 1862-1863 Vicksburg campaign, crossed the river below the city in May 1863, suffered heavy casualties in the failed Grand Assault, and also participated in the captures of Port Gibson and Jackson; by the end of that campaign, 436 of 606 men remained fit for duty. After garrison duty in Mississippi and Tennessee, the regiment served in Major General Nathaniel Banks' Red River Expedition from March to May 1864, fought at Lake Chicot, Arkansas, in June, and saw its non-reenlisting veterans, including Old Abe, leave service after an action near Abbeville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1864. When the regiment reorganized as a veteran unit in September 1864, the men unanimously gave Old Abe to the State of Wisconsin. The Eighth Wisconsin then returned to Missouri without Old Abe as part of Major General Andrew J. Smith's detachment of the 16th Army Corps during the effort to pursue Major General Sterling Price's raiding Confederate army, traveling by steamboat to De Vall's Bluff, Arkansas, marching northeastward along Price's eastern flank, moving through Cape Girardeau to St. Louis and Jefferson City, reaching as far as Little Santa Fe on the Missouri-Kansas border, and returning to St. Louis on foot after covering 819 miles in eight weeks without making contact. The regiment then returned to Tennessee, fought at Nashville in December 1864, took part in its last combat operations against Mobile Bay, Alabama, in April 1865, and mustered out in September 1865 with 37 battles and skirmishes to its credit, 55 men killed in action or mortally wounded, 221 lost from disease, and more than 15,000 miles traveled in seven states. After leaving the regiment, Old Abe lived in the Wisconsin Capitol, became a nationally famous symbol and fundraiser whose image and appearances supported war orphans and disabled soldiers, later promoted state fairs, soldiers' reunions, and Republican politics, died after a basement fire in February 1881 and on March 26, 1881, and eventually inspired the World War Two 101st Airborne Division's Screaming Eagles insignia.
