Jacob Larson Jacobsen (Jacobson) Private in Company D 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry The Scandinavian Regiment

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Born December 6, 1832, Slemdal (Siljan), Telemark, Kingdom of Norway
Parents were Lars Jacobsen Snurren (1805-1853) and Ingeborg Larsdatter Island (1793-1837) 
Immigrated to America, 1857
Married March 12, 1867, to Maren Helvig Holte (1845-1905), at Pine Lake, Waukesha County, State of Wisconsin
Died June 15, 1892, Old People's Home, Town of Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin
Buried St. John's Lutheran Church Cemetery, Stone Bank, Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Jacob L. Jacobsen and his friend Lars Jensen were enlisted in Company D of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain Charles Campbell on November 25, 1861, for a 3 year term of service.  The men of Company D called themselves the "Norway Wolf Hunters."  They were also known as the "Waupun Company" because a number of its members were residents of that Wisconsin town.  

Jacob was mustered into Federal service at the rank of Private on December 10, 1861, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin.  At the time he was recorded by the Army as being 27 years old and not married.  His residence was listed as the Town of Oconomowoc, Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

On January 14, 1862, the men of the 15th Wisconsin were issued Belgian rifled muskets.  After nearly 3 months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Private Jacobsen left there on March 2, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war.  From then until August, 1862, he is believed to have been 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, Private Jacobsen would have left Island No. 10 with the 15th to go on campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama.  He was next listed as " absent" sick in a hospital at the Town of Iuka in the State of Mississippi, starting in August, 1862.  As such me probably did not participate 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. 

It is not clear if Private Jacobsen was present with the 15th 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.  

It is known that on December 26, 1862, Private Jacobsen 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.  Private Jacobsen then 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 those cited was Private Jacobsen.  The following is from Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin.

At the recommendation of the 15th's commanding officer, Colonel Hans C. Heg, the name of Private Jacobsen was submitted to headquarters.  He was subsequently added to the Roll of Honor for the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps for his bravery in 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, Williamson County, Tennessee.  Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in U.S. Major General William S. Rosecran's Tullahoma campaign.  On July 3, 1863, it went into camp at the Town of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee. 

On August 17, 1863, the 15th left Winchester to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign.  Private Jacobsen is believed to have been present at the daring early morning crossing of the Tennessee River on August 28th, which the 15th led.  He was present at the September 19-20, 1863, fighting at Chickamauga in the State of Georgia -- the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  He survived the vicious fighting around Viniard's Farm on the first afternoon, but was captured around midday on the 20th during what was called Longstreet's Breakthrough.  Some 63% of the 15th's soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.  Private Jacobsen was one of the lucky prisoners.  He was paroled by the Confederates to Federal forces shortly after the battle.  

Private Jacobsen would have then served with the regiment during the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which began right after the battle.  The siege resulted in severe shortages of medicine, food, and firewood which, together with cold, wet weather, caused much suffering, sickness, and death.  Starting October 13, 1863, Private Jacobsen was one of 120 members of the 15th assigned as a Guard with the Army supply wagon train from the City of Chattanooga, over the mountains to the Federal depot at the Town of Stevenson, Alabama.  This was by all accounts a physically challenging and dangerous trip.  He was once again with the 15th in early November, 1863.  The Confederate siege was finally broken by the Union Army's victorious charge up Mission Ridge on November 25, 1863, which the 15th took part in.  

Starting November 28, 1863, Private Jacobsen was listed as "absent sick" in a hospital in Chattanooga.  As such he missed at least part of the almost non-stop marching and counter-marching the 15th then did all over Eastern Tennessee throughout the winter of 1863/1864.  By many original accounts, this was the worst period of the regiment's 3 year term of service.  Poor rations, inadequate clothing and shelter, and unseasonably cold weather made these months nearly unbearable. 

Private Jacobsen is believed to have been back with the 15th by February 1, 1864, when he and other members of the 15th who had decided not to re-enlist as Veteran Volunteers were transferred to the 68th Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry.  The rest of the 15th was ordered back to Wisconsin for a 30 day leave as part of their reward for re-enlisting.  However, when the Army suddenly cancelled their leave, the men cancelled their re-enlistments, and Private Jacobsen and the others were transferred back from the 68th to the 15th on April 2, 1864, by order of the War Department. 

Starting in May, 1864, Private Jacobsen and the 15th participated in U.S. Major General William T. Sherman's famous campaign to capture the City of Atlanta, Georgia.  This campaign was marked by almost daily marching and/or combat for 4 months.  The 15th took part in fighting at Rocky Face Ridge, Georgia, in early May, at the bloody Battle of Resaca, Georgia, on May 14-15, and at the disastrous Battle of Pickett's Mill (often called Dallas or New Hope Church), Georgia, on May 27, 1864.  There the 15th suffered 50% casualties, one of whom was Private Jacobsen who was "wounded in left shoulder."  Private Jacobsen was sent to a hospital in Chattanooga to recover.

Private Jacobsen returned to the regiment in time to be mustered out of Federal service along with most of the other surviving members of Company D on February 13, 1865, at Chattanooga, after completing his 3 year term of service.  Company D and the rest of the regiment had been guarding a railroad bridge at nearby Whitesides, Tennessee, for the previous 3 months.

Afterward being mustered out Jacob returned to Wisconsin.  It is said that in 1866 he bought 65 acres of un-cleared land bordering on Pine Lake, near Stone Bank in Waukesha County, cleared 28 acres for farming, and built a log cabin.  The next year he got married and started a family, which eventually included 9 children.  As the farm prospered and his family grew it is said he built a large barn in 1874 and a 5 room frame house in 1876.  In May, 1892, he is supposed to have caught a cold while constructing a fence in the rain.  His illness is said to have developed into pneumonia and he died the next month at age 59.

Sources: Genealogical data collected by Manetta Henning, Harold Petersen, and Vesterheim Genealogical Center; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895); 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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All Rights Reserved. Created June 4, 1999. Last updated November 20, 2002.

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