The Eight Michigan was known as the "Wandering Regiment" for its service on many fronts and its frequent reassignments between different armies and geographical areas.

The regiment began its service by being assigned to General Thomas W. Sherman in South Carolina where he was establishing a beachhead to provide a base for the naval blockade.

The Eighth saw service in both the eastern and western theaters of operation.

The Eighth fought in several major battles in the east, was then sent to support General Grant at Vicksburg, and finally being dispatched to east Tennessee before finishing out the war with the Army of the Potomac in Virginia.

The regiment suffered 11 officers and 212 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 3 officers and 223 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 449 fatalities.