John T. Rice Captain of Company C 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry The Scandinavian Regiment

Photo RG985-CWP-161.78
Wm. Schultz College, U.S. Army Military History Institute

At the recommendation of Colonel Hans C. Heg, commander of the 15th Wisconsin, John T. Rice was commissioned by Wisconsin Governor Randall for 3 years service as the 2nd Lieutenant of Company C of the 15th.  The commission was dated December 28, 1861, to rank from November 19, 1861. Company C called itself the Norway Bear Hunters and was the regiment's color (flag) company.  John was mustered into Federal service as a 2nd Lieutenant on January 11, 1862, at Madison, Wisconsin. At the time he was 22 years old and not married.  His residence was listed as Town of Waterford, Racine County, Wisconsin.

Again at the recommendation of Colonel Heg, 2nd Lieutenant Rice was commissioned 1st Lieutenant of Co. C by the Governor of Wisconsin on June 23, 1862, to rank from June 12, 1862. He was mustered in at that rank on May 7, 1862, to date July 9, 1862, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Rice was left sick at Nashville, Tennessee, starting December 26, 1862, where is he is believed to have been during the Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, December 30, 1862, through January 2, 1863. 

Starting May 2, 1863, Lieutenant Rice was assigned as the 15th's Acting Quartermaster by Lieutenant Colonel Ole C. Johnson, who was then commanding the regiment.  During the Battle of Chickamauga Lieutenant Rice took command of Co. C after Captain Hans Hanson was captured on the first afternoon of the battle, September 19, 1863.  Rice then led the company for the remaining day and a half of fighting.  Lieutenant Rice was then on sick leave from November 11, 1863, to sometime in December 1863.  At the recommendation of Major George Wilson, who was then commanding the 15th, the Governor of Wisconsin commissioned 1st Lieutenant Rice as the Captain of Co. C.  Rice was mustered into Federal service at that rank on April 20, 1864, to date from April 7, 1864, at McDonald's Station, Tennessee.  He was on leave of absence from November 10, 1864. 

Captain Rice mustered out of Federal service with most of the rest of the survivors of Co. C on December 31, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the expiration of his 3 year term of service.

Sources: Oberst Heg og Hans Gutter [Colonel Heg and His Boys] by Waldemar Ager (Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 1916); Regimental Descriptive Rolls, Volume 20 by the Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1885); and, Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume 1 by the Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1886).

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All Rights Reserved. Created January 24, 1999.  Last updated July 29, 2000.

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