8th VETERAN RESERVE CORPS REGIMENT
Oct. 10, 1863 Regiment organized at Chicago, Ill. by consolidation of 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 31st, 63rd, 78th, 81st, 83rd, 92nd and 96th Companies, 1st Battalion.
Col./Brevet BrigGen. Benjamin J. Sweet Sept. 19, 1865 resigned
LtCol. Carlisle Boyd Jan. 13, 1864 transferred to 14th VRC Rgt.
LtCol. Fabian Brydolf Aug. 12, 1864 transferred to 2nd VRC Rgt.
LtCol./Brevet Col. Lewis C. Skinner July 2, 1866 discharged
Maj. Samuel K. Williams April 18, 1865 discharged
Maj. Aquila Wiley March 28, 1866 discharged
Captains
Louis A. Philiporeaux June 30, 1866 discharged
S. Vander Horck July 20, 1866 discharged
Emil Munch Nov. 20, 1865 discharged
Brevet Maj. Joseph M. Barr June 30, 1866 discharged
Elhanan C. Phetteplace July 31, 1866 discharged
Warner Young June 30, 1866 discharged
James M. Tracy Sept. 26, 1867 discharged
James H. Corns April 25, 1864 transferred to 70th Co., 2nd Bn., VRC
William S. Schoonmaker June 2, 1866 resigned
John E. R. Patten July 11, 1864 resigned
Werner W. Bjjerg March 28, 1865 resigned
Thomas G, Barues Sept. 13, 1865 resigned
Edmund R. P. Shurley Oct. 7, 1865 resigned
First Lieutenants
Joel A. Fife, regimental quartermaster Feb. 10, 1865 promoted capt. 15th VRC Rgt.
James W. Crawford, regimental adjutant Feb. 15, 1866 resigned
Edward Bacon, regimental quartermaster Sept. 28, 1865 resigned
Morris Briggs, regimental quartermaster April 2, 1866 resigned
Joseph A. Greene June 13, 1866 discharged
Amos S. Collins retained in service
Thomas McDonough Feb. 10, 1865 promoted capt., 23rd VRC Rgt.
Samuel O. Burnham Feb. 21, 1865 promoted capt., unassigned, VRC Rgt.
George W. Debevolse June 5, 1865 promoted capt., 17th VRC Rgt.
Alfred Dart Aug. 26, 1863 resigned
Severin A. Barthoulot Oct. 5, 1864 resigned
Henry V. Morris Aug. 3, 1865 resigned
Lawrence Cahill April 25, 1864 transferred to 35th Co., 2nd Bn., VRC
William H. Jones Aug. 5, 1864 transferred to 11th VRC Rgt.
Isaiah S. Taylor June 24, 1865 transferred to 15th VRC Rgt.
Second Lieutenants
Brevet 1stLt. George T. Russell Nov. 16, 1865 discharged
Augustus B. Sweeney May 30, 1866 discharged
John Stewart June 30, 1866 discharged
David R. Rowles June 30, 1866 discharged
Brevet Maj. Edward L. Deane retained in service
George J. Whitman June 30, 1866 retired
Jesse B. Clinton retained in service
Washington L. Wood Feb. 17, 1866 transferred to 4th Independent Co., VRC
Henry H. Kuhn Oct. 31, 1866 resigned
Albert Prosens Aug. 15, 1864 resigned
H. Clay Thomas Sept. 26, 1865 died
July 1-Nov. 20, 1865 Regiment mustered out by detachments
Phetteplace, Elhanan of Tuscola, Mich. c.1823 born; June 28, 1861 2ndlt., Co. I, 7th Mich. Infantry Rgt. Sept. 2, 1862 capt. Sept. 17, 1862 wounded at Antietam, Md. May 11, 1863 discharged for wounds; June 3, 1863 applied for a pension (application #24677/certificate #77109); Aug. 19, 1863 capt., 8th Veteran Reserve Corps Rgt. July 31, 1866 discharged; Oct. 20, 1889 died; his widow applied for a pension (application #412914/certificate #272271)
Source: Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers 1861-65; Pension Index
Sweet, Benjamin Jeffery, April 24, 1832 born at Kirkland, Oneida County, N. Y. His father was a clergyman in poor health, and at nine years of age the boy was set at work in a cottonmill. When he was sixteen his father moved to Stockbridge, Wis. and settled upon a piece of wild forest land, where the son spent a year in clearing a homestead for the family. At age of 17 he entered Appleton college, but remained only a year, and then returned home, where he alternately taught and worked on his father's farm. His spare hours he devoted to the study of the law. Before he was 27 he was elected to the senate of Wisconsin; July 16, 1861 maj., 6th Wis. Infantry Rgt. Sept. 17, 1861 ltcol. Sept. 5, 1862 col., 21st Wis. Infantry Rgt.
Oct. 8, 1862 at battle of Perryville, Colonel Sweet had been for several days confined to an ambulance by malarial fever, but when the battle began he mounted his horse and took command of his regiment. During the battle he received a wound that was supposed to be mortal. His life was saved by the careful tending of his wife, but his health was permanently shattered. Sept. 8, 1863 resigned; Sept. 25, 1863 col., 8th Rgt. Veteran Reserve Corps; Dec. 20, 1864 brevet briggen., volunteers; Sept. 19, 1865 resigned; 1862-1863 stationed at Gallatin, Tenn, building a fort there in the winter;
May 1864 ordered to take command of the prison at Camp Douglas, Chicago, where about 10,000 Confederate soldiers were confined. In June he discovered that an outbreak had been planned for July 4 which should liberate and arm the prisoners, and result in the sacking and burning of Chicago. He quickly strengthened his defences and re-enforced his garrison, and the attempt was thus rendered hopeless. Early in November, Colonel Sweet received positive information that the post was to be attacked on election night, only three days following; 5000 armed men under competent leaders were then in Chicago, ready for the assault on the camp, and muskets were there in abundance to arm the 9000 prisoners. Chicago was to be burned, and its flames were to , be the signal for a general uprising of 500,000 well-armed men throughout the western country. Every available soldier had been sent to the front by the government, and Sweet had in the garrison but 796 men, most of whom were unfit for active duty. Moreover, it was too late to receive re-enforcements. His only hope of safety lay in the speedy arrest of the Confederate leaders who were then in Chicago. In this emergency he called to his aid one of his prisoners, a Texas ranger named John T. Shanks, who was well acquainted with the Confederate officers, and engaged him to ferret them out. To gain him confidence with the Confederates, he allowed Shanks to escape from the prison, and made great efforts for his recapture. Colonel Sweet thought he could trust the man ; but he had him constantly shadowed by detectives pledged to take his life in case of his treachery. Shanks did his work so well that within 36 hours the leaders of the intended assault were in irons, and a large quantity of contraband arms was in the possession of the government. When Chicago awoke to the danger it had escaped, its citizens collected at a mass-meeting and publicly thanked Colonel Sweet for the service he had rendered. When he was mustered out of service at the close of the war he resumed the practice of his profession in Wisconsin, but in 1869 he was appointed U. S. pension agent at Chicago. He held this position until April, 1870, when he was made supervisor of internal revenue for Illinois. This office he held till January, 1872 when he was called to Washington to be 1st deputy commissioner of internal revenue; Jan. 1, 1874 died at Washington, D. C.
Source: Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889
Wiley, Aquilla, Feb. 20, 1835 born at Mechanicsburg, Pa. lawyer; April 20, 1861 1stlt., Co. C, 16th Ohio Infantry Rgt. Aug. 18, 1861 mustered out at Columbus, Ohio; Sept. 19, 1861 capt., Co. C, 41st Ohio Infantry Rgt. March 1, 1862 maj. April 7, 1862 wounded at Shiloh, Tenn. Nov. 20, 1862 ltcol. Nov. 29, 1862 col. Nov. 25, 1863 wounded (left leg, amputated) at Missionary Ridge, Tenn. June 4, 1864 discharged for wounds; Oct. 1, 1864 applied for a pension (application #6452295/certificate #34304); March 13, 1865 brevet briggen., volunteers for Stone River, Tenn., Chickamauga, Ga., Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge, Tenn. April 19 or 27, 1865 ltcol., 8th Veteran Reserve Corps Rgt. March 28, 1866 discharged; June 5, 1912 died at Wooster, Ohio; July 29, 1912 applied for a pension (application #991431/certificate #750277)
Sources: Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio; Ohio in the War; Dyer: A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion; Heitman: Register of United States Army 1789-1903; Brevet Brigadier Generals in Blue; The Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War