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Ellen (Ellend) Olson
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Believed taken circa August, 1864
Photo courtesy of Kirsten A.
Chappell
Image shown above has been electronically enhanced
Born January 25, 1835, Hedalen, Valdres, Kingdom of Norway
Parents
were Ole Ellendsen Brager Braka (1806-1887) and Kari Olsdatter S. Grøv. (1814-1882)
Immigrated to America,
1861
Married February 14, 1870, to Johanne Mathie Flaten at Vermont Township, Dane County, State of Wisconsin
Died July 16, 1890, of ______________ at
_____________________________________
Buried at Vermont Lutheran Church
Cemetery, Vermont Township, Dane County, Wisconsin
Ellend Olson Brager was enlisted under the name Ellend Olson in Company B of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain Ole C. Johnson. Ellend joined up on October 17, 1861, at the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, for a 3 year term of service. The men of Company B called themselves the "Wergeland Guards" in honor of Henrik Wergeland, the famous Norwegian writer and poet. Ellend was mustered into Federal service as a Private (Menig) on November 16, 1861, at Camp Randall, near Madison, Wisconsin. At the time the Army recorded him as being 26 years old and not married. His residence was listed as the Town of Black Earth, Wisconsin.
After several months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Private Olson left there in early March, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until December, 1862 he was listed as "present" with the 15th. He participated in the successful siege of Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River in the State of Tennessee, and the surprise raid on Union City, Tennessee, in March and April, 1862. Starting that June he was on campaign with the 15th through the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. In August and September he participated in the grueling 400 mile retreat with General Buell up to the City of Louisville, State of Kentucky, with the last 2 weeks being on half rations and short of water. Private Brager was present at the October 8, 1862, Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, which is also called the Battle of Chaplin Hills. While this was the 15th's first big battle, it did not suffer any fatalities.
From December, 1862, until August, 1863, Private Olson was absent from the 15th on duty with his division's Provost Guard (military police). On December 30, 1862, he was a guard with the Division wagon train when it was attacked by Confederate General Wheeler's Cavalry during the long, cold, wet, and bloody Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, also called the Battle of Murfreesboro.
The Division remained in the Murfreesboro area until June 23, 1863, when it left there to take part in General Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign. On July 3, 1863, the Division was camped at Winchester, Tennessee. It is believed that Private Olson was back with the 15th on or before August 17, 1863, when it left Winchester to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign. Private Olson was present at the daring early morning crossing of the Tennessee River on August 28th, which the 15th led. He was also present at the September 19-20, 1863, fighting at Chickamauga, Georgia -- the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War. He survived the vicious fighting around Viniard's Farm on the first afternoon, as well as the near capture of the regiment near Brotherton Field around midday on the 20th during Longstreet's Breakthrough. Some 63% of the 15th's soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
Private Olson then served with the regiment during the Confederate siege of the Town of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which began right after the battle. The siege caused severe shortages of medicine, food, and firewood which, combined with cold, wet weather, caused much suffering, disease, and death. Starting October 13, 1863, Private Olson was one of about 120 soldiers from the 15th who were detailed as guards with the vital Army supply wagon train that was sent from Chattanooga over the mountains to the Federal supply base at the Town of Stevenson, Alabama, and back. By all accounts this 3 weeks assignment was a dangerous and physically challenging trip. On November 25, 1863, Private Olson took part with the 15th in the Union Army's victorious charge up Mission Ridge near Chattanooga, which broke the siege and sent the Confederate Army into headlong retreat.
Starting right after Mission Ridge the 15th was engaged in almost non-stop marching and counter-marching all over Eastern Tennessee throughout December, 1863, and January, 1864. By many original accounts, this was the worst period of the regiment's entire 3 year term of service. Poor rations, inadequate clothing and shelter, and unseasonably cold weather made these months nearly unbearable.
Starting in May, 1864, the 15th participated in General William T. Sherman's famous campaign to capture the City of Atlanta in the State of Georgia. This campaign was marked by daily marching and/or combat for nearly 4 months straight. Private Olson was with the 15th when it fought at Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, in early May, and at the bloody Battle of Resaca, Georgia, on May 14-15, 1864. He also fought at the disastrous Battle of Pickett's Mill (often called Dallas or New Hope Church), Georgia, on May 27, 1864, where the 15th suffered fearful casualties. He was also with the regiment for the fighting at Bald Knob, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, and at Kenesaw Mountain on June 23, 1864 -- all in Georgia.
On July 4, 1864, Private Olson was injured by a fall into a hidden well. He was subsequently sent to the Army of the Cumberland 2nd Division Hospital in the City of Nashville, Tennessee. In August, 1864, he was transferred to the Fulton Tolten Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. On September 23, 1864, Private Olson returned to the 15th, which was then camped near Atlanta, Georgia, which had fallen to the Union Army in early September. At the beginning of October, 1864, the 15th was transported to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where for a week it was assigned to Provost (police) duty. This was followed by several months spent guarding a railroad bridge at Whitesides, Tennessee. Many of the 15th's soldiers considered the time spent at Whitesides to have been their easiest duty in the entire war.
Private Olson was mustered out of Federal service along with most of the other surviving members of Company B on December 2, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, upon the end of his 3 year term of service. At muster out the Army noted that he was due $100 in bounty money. Because the railroad between Chattanooga and Nashville had recently been cut by Confederate General Hood's Army, the men of Company B had to remain in Chattanooga until December 20, 1864, before they could start for home. Upon reaching Wisconsin the men were paid off and the company formally disbanded.
After the war Ellend Olson Brager lived in Black Earth, Wisconsin, where he was a member of the Lutheran Church.
Sources: Genealogical data from his Great Granddaughter Ellen Brager Chappell, his Great Great Grandson Mike Thorson, his Great Grandniece Ann Urness Gesme, and from Dee Anna Grimsrud, MLIS, CGRS; Civil War Compiled Military Service Records by Office of Adjutant General of the United States (Washington, DC); Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895); Regimental Descriptive Rolls, Volume 20 Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1885); and, Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume I Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1886).
This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep
Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created January 24, 1999. Last updated
December 31, 2001.