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Hans Hanson (Hansen)Captain of Company C |
Believed to have taken in late 1861 or early 1862 at Madison, Wisconsin
Photo RG985-CWP-161.77, Wm. Schultz
College, U.S. Army Military History Institute
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Born _____________, 1832, Grinda Farm, Sogn,
Kingdom of Norway
Parents were ______________________________ and
_____________________________
Immigrated to America, 1846
Married on ________, 18__,
to _________________ at _____________________________
Died October 13, 1863,
City of Atlanta, State of Georgia
Buried Section A, Grave G, (A-1070)
National Cemetery, Town of Marietta, Georgia
Based on a vote by the members his company, and with the recommendation of Colonel Hans C. Heg, the 15th's commander, Hans Hanson (Hansen) was commissioned by Wisconsin Governor Randall for a 3 year term of service as the 1st Lieutenant (second-in-command) of Company C. His commission was dated November 22, 1861, with his rank to officially take effect as of November 19, 1861. The men of Company C called themselves the "Norway Bear Hunters" and served as the regiment's Color (flag) Company.
Captain Hanson was mustered into Federal service at that rank on December 2, 1861, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time he was listed as being 24 years old, married, and working as a Farmer. His residence was recorded as the Town of Norway, Racine County, Wisconsin. At the time the commander of Company C was Captain Frederick R. Berg and the third-in-command was 2nd Lieutenant John T. Rice.
On January 14, 1862, the men of the 15th Wisconsin were issued Belgian rifled muskets. After several months at Camp Randall learning to be an officer and training his soldiers, 1st Lieutenant Hanson left there in early March, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until September, 1863, he was listed as "present" with the 15th. As such he would have 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 June 11, 1862, 1st Lieutenant Hanson was on campaign with the 15th through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama.
On June 12, 1862, Captain Berg resigned his commission and left the Army. At the recommendation of Colonel Heg, 1st Lieutenant Hanson was commissioned on June 23, 1862, by the Governor of Wisconsin to be the new Captain of Company C, to rank from June 12, 1862. Captain Hanson was mustered into Federal service at that rank on July 9, 1862. 2nd Lieutenant Rice was commissioned at the same time as the new 1st Lieutenant of Company C. Within a few weeks Regimental Commissary Sergeant James Larson was commissioned as the company's new 2nd Lieutenant.
In August and September Captain Hanson led Company C through the grueling 400 mile retreat with General Don Carlos Buell up to the City of Louisville, State of Kentucky, with the last 2 weeks being on half rations and short of water. Captain Hanson also led his company into the October 8, 1862, fighting at the Town of Perryville, Boyle County, Kentucky, which is also called the Battle of Chaplin Hills. While this was the 15th's first big battle, it emerged without any fatalities.
On December 26, 1862, Captain Hanson led Company C in the 15th's desperate charge upon a Confederate artillery battery at Knob Gap, Tennessee, just south of the City of Nashville. There the 15th captured a brass cannon. He also commanded his company at the long, cold, wet, and bloody Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, also called the Battle of Murfreesboro, on December 30-31, 1862. It is there that the 15th first suffered serious battle casualties, and was cited for bravery.
The 15th camped in the Murfreesboro area for the next 6 months, except for 2 weeks in February when it was sent to the Town of Franklin, Tennessee. Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in General Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign. On July 3, 1863, went into camp at the Town of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, for 6 weeks.
On August 17, 1863, the 15th left Winchester to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign. Captain Hanson led his company during the daring early morning crossing of the Tennessee River on August 28th, which the 15th help spearhead. And Captain Hanson was present at the September 19-20, 1863, fighting at Chickamauga, Georgia -- the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Some 63% of the 15th's soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. On the afternoon of the 19th Captain Hanson lead Company C into the vicious fighting around Viniard's Farm. What happened there is described in Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin.
"Once as the Regiment advanced, the blade of his sword was broken straight across by a bullet; during a short rest he showed the hilt with its stub to [Lieutenant] Colonel Johnson and said, as he smiled good-humoredly as always, "This is beginning to be hot work." A short while later, when their own lines opened fire on them from behind in confusion, he was shot in the head." |
Being fired on from behind by Union troops and from in front by Confederates was more than the 15th could stand. Its' then commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ole C. Johnson, ordered his men to disperse and make their way to safety as best each could. In the confusion Captain Hanson was left behind and captured. 1st Lieutenant Rice then took command of the company.
Though wounded, Captain Hanson was sent with the rest of the Union prisoners on a 2 day, 15 mile march to the Town of Tunnel Hill, Georgia. There they were loaded into railroad train box cars and carried down to the City of Atlanta, Georgia, where they received their first food since being captured 3 days earlier. There, on October 13, 1863, Captain Hanson died of his wounds while a prisoner of war. In Buslett he is eulogized thus.
"He was beloved and respected by his comrades, and is remembered by them as a brother." |
Sources: Genealogical data from Dee Anna Grimsrud, MLIS, CGRS; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895); Oberst Heg og Hans Gutter [Colonel Heg and His Boys] by Waldemar Ager (Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 1916); Eminent Pioneers: Norwegian-American Pioneer Sketches by Erling Ylvisaker (Freeport, New York); 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).
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