8th Illinois Cavalry Guidon

The guidon flag was carried by the soldiers of the 8th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Cavalry during the Civil War. Beginning in early 1862, the 8th Illinois was stationed in Washington D.C. and attached to the Army of the Potomac, fighting in their first battle at Williamsburg. The unit also fought in a number of engagements including Mechanicsville (Seven Days Battle), Hanover Court House, Seven Pines, Brandy Station, Middleburg, Upperville, and Gettysburg.

The 8th Illinois aided in the hunt for John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, and served as Lincoln’s honor guard while he lay under the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C.

Restoration of the flag began last August at the Peebles Island Resource Center in New York. A total of $20,000 was raised to fund the work through the combined efforts of the DuPage County Historical Museum, the Illinois State Military Museum, the Illinois National Guard and Militia Historical Society and the 8th Illinois Cavalry Reenactors.

On loan from the Illinois State Military Museum.