The 8th Illinois Cavalry: History and Anecdote

Wednesday, July 1  |  12pm-1pm

From 1861 to 1865, the 8th Illinois Cavalry—a Federal mounted regiment from Northern Illinois—transformed themselves into one of the finest fighting cavalry units in the Union Army.

The regiment’s most famous moment came on July 1, 1863, when troopers from Company E ot the  8th Illinois Cavalry stood watch three miles west of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  Shortly before 6:00AM that day, two privates from the 8th noticed a large cloud of dust rising from the road in front of them. These two, Thomas Kelly and James Hale, reported their observations to Lieutenant Marcellus E. Jones at the regimental headquarters.

Lieutenant Jones rode west to the outpost. While taking cover behind a rail fence at 7:30AM, he heard one of the men call out, “Here they come!” Jones borrowed a carbine from Sergeant Levi Schaffer, rested it on a fence rail, and fired at a Confederate officer riding a white horse. The shot was at extreme range and missed the target, but Jones had fired the opening shot of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Don McArthur-Self’s program will be an overview of the history of the 8th Illinois Cavalry from its organization to its mustering out on July 17, 1865.  His talk will also provide the audience with biographies of some of its more colorful members.

Don McArthur-Self recently retired from teaching high school history after 34 years, 27 of them at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois.  In addition to teaching high school, for the last 13 years he has reenacted and researched the 8th Illinois Cavalry; in 2018 he spent a week studying the Battle of Gettysburg at Gettysburg College with Dr. Allen Guelzo.  In his spare time he enjoys visiting small town cemeteries and looking for letters and diaries of 8th Illinois officers and troopers.  He lives in Naperville, Illinois.