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Samuel C. JohnsonCorporal in Company C |
Shows him wearing his Corporal stripes
Believed taken February,
1862, in Madison, Wisconsin
Image WHi (X3) 30018, State Historical Society of
Wisconsin
Born May 27, 1828, Smaaland, Kingdom of Sweden
Parents were ______________________________ and
_____________________________
Immigrated to America in the late 1850's
Married on ________, 18__,
to Maren Bruson Tytegraff at ___________________________
Died May 28, 1878, Town of
Blair, Trempealeau County, State of Wisconsin
Buried
at __________________________________________________________________
Samuel C. Johnson was enlisted in Company C of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain Frederick R. Berg. Samuel joined up at the Town of Waterford, Racine County, State of Wisconsin, on November 5, 1861, for a 3 year term of service. Company C was the regiment's Color Company, but the men called themselves the "Norway Bear Hunters." Samuel was mustered into Federal service as a Private on December 2, 1861, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time he was listed as 30 years old and not married. His residence was recorded as the Town of Norway, Racine County, Wisconsin. It is said that he was from Yorkville in Racine County.
On January 14, 1862, the men of the 15th Wisconsin were issued Belgian rifled muskets. On February 7, 1862, Private Johnson was appointed as a Corporal in Company C. After several months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Corporal Johnson 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. 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. That summer he would have been with the 15th on campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama. In August and September he would have participated in the grueling 400 mile retreat with U.S. Major 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.
Corporal Johnson would have been present at 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, he would have participated 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. Corporal Johnson fought 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. One of the casualties was Corporal Johnson, who was shot through the thigh on the first day of the battle.
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. From January, 1863, until March, 1863, Corporal Johnson was listed as "absent sick" in a hospital at Nashville, Tennessee. He was then listed as being in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in April, 1863, and then "absent wounded" in the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, in May, 1863. In June and July, 1863, he was listed as being in Nashville "wounded." Starting sometime in August or September, 1863, Corporal Johnson was recorded as being in Louisville, Kentucky.
According to Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin, Corporal Johnson became "unfit for service" and was honorably discharged from the Army due to disability on April 15, 1864.
It is said that after being discharged Samuel Johnson lived for a time in the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, before moving to the Town of Blair, Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. Before he died he and his wife had 4 children, 2 of whom lived: Mrs. J. E. Engstad of the Town of Grand Forks, State of North Dakota; and A. Hawkins of the Town of Halstad, State of Minnesota.
Sources: 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 10, 2001. Last updated
January 17, 2001.