The 8th Infantry was organized April 13, 1861, made up of men from the Upper Pee Dee area counties under Col. Ellerbe Boggan Crawford Cash.  It was engaged in many of the major battles of the War including Fort Sumter, April 1861; Secessionville, June 1862; 1st Bull Run, July 1861; Yorktown Siege, Aril-May 1862; Williamsburg, May 1862; Seven Days'  Battles, June-July 1862; Savage's Station, June 1862' Malvern Hill, July 1862; Harpers Ferry, September 1862; South mountain, Deptember 1862; Antietam, September 1862; Fredericksburg, December 1862; Chancellorsville, May 1863; Gettysburg, July 1863; Chickamauga, September 1863; Chattanooga Siege, September-November 1863; Campbell's Station (November 1863; Knoxville Siege, November-December 1863; Fort Sanders, November 1863; Bean's Station, December 1863; The Wilderness, May 1864; Spotsylvania Court House, May 1864; North Anna, May 1864; Cold Harbor, June 1864; Petersburg Siege, June 1864-April 1865; Berryville, August 1864; near Port Republic, October 1864; near Strasburg, October 1864; Cedar Creek, October 1864; Carolinas Campaign, February-April 1865; Averasboro, March 1865; and Bentonville, March 1865.

Companies B and D were made up of almost totally Chesterfield County men.  Company C contained a mixture of people, some of which were from Chesterfield County.