The 8th MSM Cavalry was organized at Jefferson City, Bolivar, Warsaw and Linn Creek from December 18, 1861 to May 6, 1862. The unit was mustered out of service on July 17, 1865. Only Companies F and H were in the fighting at Lone Jack, and most of these men had enlisted at Linn Creek and Warsaw.
Of those present at the battle whose origin is known, 25% were born in Tennessee, while 21% were originally from Missouri. Kentucky nativity was represented by 12.6% of the men. The rest were from several other states, with only one foreign-born individual and he was from Germany.
Within the two companies, the most common first name was John at 15%, and this was followed closely by William at 12%, James at 11.5% and George at 10%. The average age of the men present in the fight was 27. The oldest man from the 8th MSM in the battle was Christopher Zumwalt Harryman. He was age 49, having been born on June 20, 1813 in Saint Louis County, Missouri. He was able to survive the battle. The next oldest man in the battle was Henry Moore. He was about 48 years of age, born in about 1814 in Greene County, Tennessee, and he was killed in the battle. It appears he was related to Henry D. Moore, the Captain of Company H, and was related to two others with the last name of Moore who were in the fight. The youngest was Ira David Rickabaugh, age 15 when he enlisted in Company F. A couple of the men had served with the 2nd Battalion MSM before entering service with the 8th MSM. The average soldier was a 27 year old Tennessee born farmer with blue eyes, dark or black hair, a fair complexion, standing five feet five inches tall.
The average age of the men who were killed at Lone Jack was a little shy of 31. The youngest man killed or died of wounds was age 18 while the oldest was 48 years old.
As with the other militia units, most of the horses in this unit were owned by the men themselves. Many of these horses were lost, either killed or captured in the Battle of Lone Jack. The total value of these horses, based on the estimated value assigned to them prior to the battle, was $2,946.
Based on the information I was able to locate, the last veteran of the companies which fought at Lone Jack was Joseph Slate. He died on January 6, 1932 and was almost 87 years old. The oldest veteran was William Moore, who died at age 92. Including those who died during the war and after the war, from those graves located, my research developed that 48% of the men are buried in Missouri.