Keep the Flag to the Front

The Story of the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry

This regiment served in the forts and towns of the western frontier,

skirmished with the notorious guerilla leader William Quantrill and

battled troops commanded by notable Confederate generals Braxton Bragg,

James Longstreet, Joe Johnston, and John Hood.

Find out about…

* The Colonel who penned the Kansas Constitution and became governor

* The captains for whom Kansas counties were named

*The fourteen year old who lied about his age to join the regiment

* A skirmish with Quantrill

* “Sergeant Jack” the Shakespeare spouting, alcoholic, deserter

* The regimental dog killed in action at Chickamauga

* The corporal who shared a wheelbarrow with Ulysses S. Grant

* The color bearer catapulted backward at Missionary Ridge

* The members of the regiment imprisoned at Andersonville

* The drummer boy who became a doctor and was the last surviving member of the regiment

“I very rarely write or talk about my own military services.

Whatsoever glory or fame attaches to them is largely due to the splendid regiment I had.”

Colonel John A. Martin, 8^th Kansas Infantry

The Book

In Keep the Flag to the Front, author Bill McFarland has been able to tell the story of the Eighth Kansas Infantry and the men who served in the regiment by blending numerous photographs with first-person accounts gleaned from never before assembled diaries, letters, hometown newspapers, pension records, and other writings of the members of the Eighth Kansas Infantry. Included in the book are more than 140 photographs and illustrations, including nearly 60 images of men who served in the Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry. Many of these photographs are published here for the first time, while other previously published images are identified here for the first time.

The Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, known as the Kansas Greyhounds, was organized in 1861 as a Home Guard unit but was soon ordered east. Ironically, when it was mustered out in January of 1866, this regiment that had been recruited with the guarantee that it would serve only within the boundaries of Kansas, had traveled 10,750 miles and was the last Kansas regiment to be discharged after the war. The Eighth Kansas Infantry served in the forts and towns of the western frontier, skirmished with forces led by the notorious guerrilla William Quantrill and battled troops commanded by notable Confederate generals Braxton Bragg, James Longstreet, Joe Johnston, and John Hood. The regiment participated in 17 battles including the battles of Perryville, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta Campaign, and Nashville. It was also involved in numerous skirmishes and performed provost duty at Nashville and San Antonio.

The Author

Bill McFarland is a native Kansan. His interest in the Civil War may have begun with a family legend that claims that one of his ancestors founded the town of Gettysburg. McFarland is descended from men who served in Union regiments from Iowa, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Nebraska. Other ancestors ran a station on the Underground Railroad in Ohio. McFarland did his undergraduate work at Geneva College in Pennsylvania and at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, majoring in History and secondary education. He holds a Masters degree from Emporia State University and has taught in the public school system for over 30 years. He has been a Civil War reenactor for more than 15 years and belongs to a unit that portrays the Eighth Kansas Infantry. He has spoken on scores of occasions on the experiences and men of the Eighth Kansas.

Ordering Information

Keep the Flag to the Front contains 378 pages including end notes, bibliography, index, and more than 140 photographs and illustrations. It is available for $34.95 from the author.

Bill McFarland

2709 SW Boswell

Topeka, KS 66611

785 233 3985

mcfarwil@usd437.net