15th Wisconsin Infantry

Regimental History and Service Record

In Brief

DESIGNATIONS

• Flotilla Brigade, Army of Mississippi, to April, 1862
• Garrison at Island No. 10 to July, 1862
• 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Army of Mississippi, to September, 1862
• 31st Brigade, 9th Division, Army of the Ohio, September, 1862
• 31st Brigade, 9th Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of the Ohio, to November, 1862
• 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Right Wing 14th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to January, 1863
• 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to March, 1863
• 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps, to October, 1863
• 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 4th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to November, 1864
• 2nd Brigade, 1st Separate Division, District of the Etowah, Dept. of the Cumberland, to February, 1865

SERVICE

1862

• Organized at Madison, Wisconsin and mustered in February 14, 1862
• Ordered to St. Louis, Mo., March 2, thence to Bird's Point, Mo., March 5, and to Island No. 10 via Columbus and Hickman, Ky., March 14-17
• Operations against Island No. 10, Mississippi River, March 17-April 8
  • Expedition to Union City, Tenn., March 30-April 2
    • Union City March 31
    • Four Companies detached for duty at Bird's Point, Mo., March 5 to April 16; rejoined at Island No. 10
• Garrison duty at Island No. 10 until June
  • Companies "G" and "I" until October
• Moved to Union City, Tenn., June 12, thence to Humboldt and Corinth, Miss
• Moved to Jacinto July 20, thence to Florence, Ala., August 21-24
• March to Nashville, Tenn., thence to Louisville, Ky., in pursuit of Bragg August 26-September 26
• Pursuit of Bragg to Crab Orchard, Ky., October 1-16
  • October 8, 1862 - Battle of Perryville, Kentucky
  • Stanford October 14
• Companies G and I to Island No. 10 October 17
• March to Nashville, Tenn., October 19-November 7, and duty there until December 26
  • Expedition down the Cumberland River toward Clarksville after Morgan's guerrillas November 15-20
  • Wilson's Creek Pike December 25
• Advance on Murfreesboro December 26-30
  • Nolensville December 26-27
  • Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863

1863

• Duty at Murfreesboro until June
  • Reconnaissance from Murfreesboro March 6-7
    • Methodist Church, Shelbyville Pike, March 6
  • Reconnaissance to Versailles March 9-14
• Operations on Edgefield Pike and Shelbyville Pike June 4
• Middle Tennessee (or Tullahoma) Campaign June 23-July 7
  • Liberty Gap June 24-27. Occupation of Middle Tennessee until August 16
• August 16-September 22, 1863 - The Chickamauga Campaign
  • Caperton's Ferry, near Bridgeport, August 29
  • September 19-September 20, 1863 - Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia
• September 24-October 27, 1863 - Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee
• November 23-27, 1863 - The Chattanooga/Ringgold Campaign
  • Orchard Knob November 23-24
  • Mission Ridge November 25
• March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 8
• Charleston, Tenn., December 28
• Operations in East Tennessee until April, 1864

1864

• May 1-September 8, 1864 - The Atlanta Campaign
  • May 8-11, 1864 - Demonstration against Rocky Faced Ridge, Georgia
  • May 9-13, 1864 - Demonstration on Dalton, Georgia
  • May 14-May 15, 1864 - Battle of Resaca, Georgia
  • Near Cassville May 19
  • May 25-June 5, 1864 - Operations in Bartow County, Georgia
  • Pickett's Mills May 27
  • Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2
    • Pine Hill June 11-14
    • Lost Mountain June 15-17
    • Assault on Kenesaw June 27
  • Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground, July 4
  • Chattahoochie River July 5-17
  • Peach Tree Creek July 19-20
  • July 22-August 25, 1864 - Siege of Atlanta, Georgia
  • Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30
  • Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1
  • Lovejoy Station September 2-6
• Duty at Atlanta until September 29
• Ordered to Chattanooga, Tenn., September 29, thence to Whiteside Station October 17 and guard bridge and railroad until February, 1865
• Companies A, B, and E mustered out December 1, 1864

1865

• Company C mustered out January 1
• Companies F and G mustered out January 14
• Companies I and K mustered out February 11
• Companies D and H mustered out February 13, 1865

1862

• Organized at Madison, Wisconsin February 14, 1862 and mustered into Federal Service with the following roster of officers:

15th Wisconsin Infantry - Original Officers

Hans C. Heg - (Colonel) Kiler K. Jones - (Lieutenant Colonel) Charles M. Reese - (Major) Hans Borchsenius - (Adjutant) Ole Heg - (Quartermaster) Stephen O. Himoe - (Surgeon) Soren J. Hansen - (1st Assistant Surgeon) G.F. Newell - (2nd Assistant Surgeon) Claus L. Clauson - (Chaplain)
Company	Captain	1st Lieutenant	2nd Lieutenant
A	Andrew Torkildson	Emanuel Engelstad	Oliver Thompson
B	Ole C. Johnson	Ole G. Thompson	George Wilson
C	Frederick R. Berg	none	James Larson
D	Charles Campbell	Nels G. Tufte	Christian E. Tandberg
E	John Ingmundsen	Iver William Tjentland	John M. Johnson
F	Charles Gustaveson	Thor Simonson	Svend Samuelson
G	John A. Gordon	Henry Hauff	Wm. A. Montgomery
H	Knud J. Sime	Cornelius E. Williams	John L. Johnson
I	August Gasman	Reynard Cook	Martin Russell
K	Mons Grinager	Ole Peterson	Olaus Solberg

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1863

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1864

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1865

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Regimental Roster

Field and Staff Officers

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Regimental Field and Staff Officers

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From	Muster Date
	[[]]	?, WI	?	?

Company A

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company A (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?
Captain	Andrew Torkilson	Chicago, IL	November 11, 1861
Captain	John M. Johnson	Madison, WI	October 20, 1862
1st Lieutenant	Emanuel Engelstad	Chicago, IL	November 15, 1861
1st Lieutenant	Henry Siegel	Chicago, IL	December 16, 1862
2nd Lieutenant	Oliver Thompson	Chicago, IL	November 15, 1861
Sergeant	Fredrik Aargaard	Chicago, IL	?
Sergeant	Ole Back	Chicago, IL	?
Corporal	Fredrik Aargaard	Chicago, IL	?
Corporal	John T. Anderson	Capron, IL	?
Corporal	Ole Back	Chicago, IL	?
Corporal	John Bleye	Chicago, IL	?
Undercook	Thomas J. Davis	Chicago, IL	March 10, 1863

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company A (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?
Private	Gahr Emanuel Aanunsen	Madison, WI	October 29, 1861
Private	Fredrik Aargaard	Chicago, IL	October 9, 1861
Private	Jacob Abrahamson	Chicago, IL	February 27, 1862
Private	John T. Anderson	Capron, IL	November 15, 1861
Private	Lars B. Andersen	Chicago, IL	December 9, 1861
Private	Ole Andersen	Boone County, IL	January 3, 1862
Private	Niels Arnesen	Chicago, IL	October 31, 1861
Private	Ole Back	Chicago, IL	October 11, 1861
Private	Fredrik Bertelsen	Chicago, IL	December 9, 1861
Private	John Bleye	Chicago, IL	October 26, 1861
Private	George Adolph Boye	Chicago, IL	December 27, 1861
Private	Ole Christian Branstad	Milwaukee, WI	August 30, 1862
Private	George O. Branstad	London, Canada	October 26, 1861
Private	Peter Brekkan	Chicago, IL	October 8, 1861
Private	Fredrick Brown	Chicago, IL	October 9, 1861
Private	Niels Brown	Chicago, IL	October 26, 1861
Private	Lars P. Christensen	Chicago, IL	October 11, 1861
Private	Tobias Christenson	La Crosse, WI	February 16, 1862
Private	Charles A. Dahl	Chicago, IL	October 11, 1861
Private	Thomas J. Davis	Chicago, IL	March 10, 1863
Private	Edward Edson	Boone County, IL	October 16, 1861

Company B

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company B (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company B (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company C

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company C (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company C (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company D

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company D (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company D (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company E

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company E (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company E (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company F

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company F (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company F (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company G

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company G (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company G (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company H

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company H (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company H (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company I

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company I (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company I (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Company K

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company K (Officers)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Commission From
?	[[]]	?, WI	?

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Company K (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Unassigned

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15th Wisconsin Infantry / Unassigned Recruits (Enlisted Men)

Rank	Name	City/Town	Enlistment Date
Private	[[]]	?, WI	?

Regiment Statistical Information

• Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 86 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 241 Enlisted men by disease. Total 336.

Legacy

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Notes

Norwegian-Americans numbered about 20,000. Trempealeau and Racine counties, among others, had considerable numbers of these Scandinavians. pg. 6 Wisconsin and the Civil War by Frank L. Klement

The Fifteenth also claimed a special distinction. It was composed almost exclusively of Norwegians -- 115 of the men in the regiment were named Ole. Colonel Hans C. Heg, who had twice been elected as commissioner of the State Prison, resigned that post to take command of the "Norwegian Regiment." The regiment took part in 26 major engagements and came to be called "the Fighting Fifteenth." It won a citation "for bravery and coolness under fire" at Murfreesboro (Stone River). At Chickamauga it again exhibited "true courage" and its gallant colonel lost his life on that battlefield. Colonel Ole. C. Johnson succeeded Heg. He led the Fifteenth in the Atlanta campaign, taking part in one battle after another. pg. 80 Wisconsin and the Civil War by Frank L. Klement

Sources

• Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. The Dyer Publishing Company (Des Moine, 1908). (Pages 701, 704, 705, 707, 715, 733, 860, 862, 866, 1679-1680)
• Estabrook, Charles E. Wisconsin Losses in the Civil War. (Madison, Wis. Adjutant General's Dept., 1915). (Pages 74-79)
• Wisconsin. Adjutant-General's Office. Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865. Volume 1. (Madison, 1886). (Pages 804-829)