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15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
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Union Army infantry regiment
15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry flagg.png National flag of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment from the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum February 14, 1862February 13, 1865 United States Union Union Army Infantry Regiment Scandinavian Regiment For Gud og Vårt Land! (For God and Our Country!) American Civil War
Battle of Island Number Ten
Battle of Perryville
Battle of Stones River
Tullahoma Campaign
Battle of Chickamauga
Battle of Resaca
Battle of Peachtree Creek
Battle of Atlanta
Battle of Jonesborough Hans Christian Heg Colonel Jurgen Wilson Major Ole C. Johnson Lt. Col.
Wisconsin U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865
14th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
16th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
The 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was popularly known as the Norwegian Regiment or the Scandinavian Regiment, due to its composition of mostly Norwegian American, Swedish American, and Danish American immigrants.15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry (Wisconsin Trails) Accessed 2009-05-17. https://archive.today/20090519005942/http://genealogytrails.com/wis/15thWIInfReg.html Archived 2009-05-18.https://www.hhogman.se/the-american-civil-war.htm Swedish History - Hans Högman www.hhogman.se
Service
The 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was originally formed by Col. Hans Christian Heg at Camp Randall, near Madison, Wisconsin. The majority of its members were Norwegianhttps://dailyhistory.org/Why_Did_Scandinavians_Volunteer_for_the_Union_Army_during_the_Civil_War? Why Did Scandinavians Volunteer for the Union Army during the Civil War - DailyHistory.org dailyhistory.org immigrants with the rest being mainly Swedish and Danish immigrants. The regiment was organized at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into federal service January 31, 1862. The regiment was mustered out of service by company between December 1, 1864, and February 13, 1865.https://www.civilwararchive.com/unionwi.htm Union Regiments - Wisconsin www.civilwararchive.com
+15th Wisconsin Company OrganizationWisconsin. Adjutant General's Office https://archive.org/details/rosterofwisconsi01wisco/page/804/mode/2up?q=thirteenth+regiment+infantry Roster of Wisconsin volunteers, war of the rebellion, 1861-1865 1886 Madison, Democrat printing co., state printers The Library of CongressEastabrook Charles E. http://historyweb.digitalhistory.bsu.edu/jklinger/ensuringloyaltykentucky/Documents/Wiadj.pdf Annual Reports of the Adjutant General of the State of Wisconsin for the Years 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864. Democrat Printing Co. 1912 Madison, Wisconsin 1912 69–71 2021-10-31 2025-05-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20211031225756/http://historyweb.digitalhistory.bsu.edu/jklinger/ensuringloyaltykentucky/Documents/Wiadj.pdf bot: unknown CompanyEarliest MonikerPrimary Place of RecruitmentCompany CommanderASt. Olaf's GuardsChicago, Illinois and Boone County, IllinoisAndrew TorkildsonBWergeland GuardsDane County Ole C. JohnsonCNorway Bear HuntersRacine County F. B. BergDWolf HuntersWaukesha CountyC. CampbellEOdin's GuardsDane County J. IngmundsenFK.K.'s ProtectorsManitowoc CountyCharles GustavsonGRock River RangersRock County John J. GordonHHeg's RiflesDane County, Wisconsin and Clermont, Fayette Counties from IowaK. J. SimeIScandinavian MountaineersWaupaca County and Pepin CountyA. GaassmanKFreeborn County, Minnesota, Winneshiek County, Iowa, Worth County, Iowa, and Fillmore County, MinnesotaMons Grinager
Major campaigns
The 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment was a participant in a number of major battles conducted by the Union Army during the Civil War.Norsemen weren’t afraid to fight at Stones River (by: By Mike West, Managing Editor. Murfreesboro Post. June 8, 2008) Accessed 2009-05-17. Archived 2009-05-18.
The Battle of Island Number Ten
The Battle of Perryville (October 8, 1862)
The Battle of Stones River (December 31, 1862 - January 2, 1863)
The Tullahoma Campaign (June 24 - July 3, 1863)
Battle of Chickamauga (September 19 – 20, 1863)
Battle of Resaca (May 13–15, 1864)
The Battle of Peachtree Creek (July 20, 1864)
Battle of Atlanta (July 22 - August 25. 1864)
Battle of Jonesborough (August 31 – September 1, 1864)
Casualties
The 15th Wisconsin suffered eight officers and 86 enlisted men who were killed in action or who later died of their wounds, plus another one officer and 241 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 336 fatalities. On September 20, 1863, Colonel Hans Christian Heg died of wounds he received in action in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19, 1863.Klement Frank L. Wisconsin in the Civil War: The Home Front and the Battle Front, 1861-1865 The State Historical Society of Wisconsin 1997 978-0870202865
Commanders
Colonel Hans Christian Heg (February 14, 1862September 20, 1863) died of wounds after Chickamauga. Before the war, he had served as the 6th prison commissioner of Wisconsin.
Major Jurgen Wilson (September 20, 1863July 24, 1864) commanded the regiment after many senior officers were killed or captured at Chickamauga. Earlier in the war, he had been captain of Co. H. He was also wounded at Chickamauga. He received an honorary brevet to lieutenant colonel after the war.
Lt. Colonel Ole C. Johnson (July 24, 1864February 10, 1865) was captured at Chickamauga and was prisoner of war until making his escape in May 1864. He commanded the regiment through the end of the war and was designated for promotion to colonel, but was never mustered at that rank. Earlier in the war, he had been captain of Co. B. After the war he became mayor of Beloit, Wisconsin, and immigration commissioner of Wisconsin.
Notable people
Hans Borchsenius was adjutant of the regiment for one year. He resigned due to illness. He later served as a Wisconsin state legislator, and served several appointed roles in the Internal Revenue Service.
Claus Lauritz Clausen was chaplain of the regiment for one year. Before the war he had served in the Iowa state legislature. After the war he was a prominent religious leader in the Scandinavian American Lutheran community.
David McKee was lieutenant colonel of the regiment and died at the Battle of Stones River. Earlier in the war, he had been captain of Co. C in the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.
John T. Rice was first lieutenant and later captain of Co. C, serving nearly the entire war. After the war he served as a Wisconsin state legislator.
Otto A. Risum was enlisted in Co. G and rose to the rank of sergeant. He was later promoted to sergeant major and then adjutant, serving through the entire war. After the war he served as a Wisconsin state legislator.
Svend Samuelson was 2nd lieutenant of Co. F and resigned due to illness in November 1863. He later served as a Wisconsin state legislator.
Victor Willard was enlisted in Co. C, but was discharged after a year due to disability. He previously served as a Wisconsin state senator.
See also
American Civil War
List of Wisconsin Civil War units
Wisconsin in the American Civil War
Hans Mattson
Charles J. Stolbrand
Oscar Malmborg
Ernst von Vegesack
References
Citations
30em
Sources
40em
Buslett, Ole Amundsen Det Femtende Regiment Wisconsin Frivillige (Decorah, Iowa, 1894) Norwegian
Estabrook, Charles E, ed. Records and sketches of military organizations: population, legislation, election and other statistics relating to Wisconsin in the period of the Civil War (Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. 1914)
Current, Richard Nelson The History of Wisconsin, The Civil War Era, 1848-1873 (Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin. 1976)
Further reading
Ager, Waldemar Colonel Heg and His Boys: A Norwegian Regiment in the American Civil War (Northfield, Minnesota: The Norwegian-American Historical Association. 2000) English translation by Della Kittleson Catuna and Clarence A. Clausen
Further reading
Camp of the 15th Regiment of the Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
https://web.archive.org/web/20141010194150/http://www.nagcnl.org/civilwar/ 2014-10-10
Category:Military units and formations established in 1862
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865
Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Wisconsin
Category:Norwegian-American culture in Wisconsin
Category:1862 establishments in Wisconsin