What does CPL H eighth Regt Calif inf saw on a tombstone mean?

Answer 1

CPL is the abbreviation for Corporal, an army enlisted personnel rank. H could be the initial of the soldier's first name, as in "Smith, CPL H." 8th Regt. stands for Eighth Regiment. A regiment is a military unit consisting of 4 battalions, something like 2000 enlisted personnel and all the associated officers and supporting administrative troops. Calif inf suggests that this was a unit of the California reserve corps, as opposed to the regular army or the National Guard.

AnswerThis seems to refer to 8th Regiment California Infantry. If this was meant to be a WW2 unit, the name would be "8th Infantry Regiment". I thought there might be a possiblity that it was a national guard unit that had "California" in it title.

The only type of name like this would be from the Civil War. I did not expect there were any California regiments in the Civil War but I did find a source that said there were 8 of them. They must have been raised to defend the western territories. Here is the details of the 8th Regiment. Does the headstone located in any of the cities??

8th Regiment Infantry - Organized by Companies as follows:

Company "A" - At Watsonville and mustered in November 17, 1864. Stationed at Fort Point, California., until February, 1865. At Cape Disappointment, mouth of the Columbia River, Washington Territory, until August 17, 1865, and at Fort Dalles, Ore., until October, 1865. Ordered to Fort Point, California., October, 1865.

Company "B" - At Sacramento and mustered in December 5, 1864. Stationed at Fort Point, Cal., until April 17, 1865. Moved to Fort Stevens, Ore., April 17-26, and duty there until October 11. Ordered to Fort Point, Cal.

Company "C" - Organized at San Jose and mustered in January 28, 1865. At Fort Point, Cal., until October, 1865.

Company "D" - Organized at San Francisco and mustered in February 14, 1865. Stationed at Fort Point, Cal., until October, 1865.

Company "E" - Organized at San Francisco January 25, 1865. Stationed at Alcatraz Island until October, 1865.

Company "F" - Organized at San Francisco February 14, 1865. Stationed at Point Blunt, Angel Island, until October, 1865.

Company "G" - Organized at Marysville and mustered in January 5, 1865. Stationed at Alcatraz Island until October, 1865.

Company "H" - Organized in Calaveras County and mustered in February 27, 1865, at San Francisco. Stationed at Alcatraz Island and Fort Point until October, 1865.

Company "I" - Organized in Yuba and Sierra Counties and mustered in at San Francisco February 6, 1865. Stationed at Fort Point until October, 1865.

Company "K" - Organized at Placerville and Sacramento and mustered in at San Francisco February 25, 1865. Stationed at Fort Point until October, 1865.

Regiment mustered out October 24, 1865.

Quoted from Link: http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/uncainf.htm#8thinf

Civil War Veteran Headstones

Headstones were provided to veterans of the Civil War and even modern veterans. This does not mean that the soldier died during the war. It was a way to recognize the deceased was a Veteran. You may research a family member and discover he served in the Civil War. You can order a replacement headstone and the government will provide it free of charge with his Name, Unit and date of death.