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Henry Nicolay Hauff
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Shown as 1st Lieutenant holding his officer's
sword
Photo Collection PH2361, State Historical Society of
Wisconsin
Picture shown above has been enhanced electronically by Deep Vee
Productions
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Born October 10, 1836, Sandefjord, Kingdom of
Norway
Parents were Niels Frederik Hauff (1803-1887) and Marie Petrine
Hedwig Pettersen (1801-1884)
Immigrated to America, 1858
Never married, no
known children
Killed September 19, 1863,
Battle of Chickamauga, Catoosa County, State of Georgia
Believed to have been
buried on the Chickamauga battlefield in an unmarked
grave
Henrik Nikolai Hauff worked as a salesman and bookkeeper in a railroad freight office in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, before coming to America with his friends George Wilson and Samuel Thodberg. After arriving he worked as a hardware store clerk in the City of Madison, Dane County, State of Wisconsin. In December, 1859, Hauff took a trip down the Mississippi River with Wilson and Thodberg to the City of New Orleans, and then traveled west to Texas. The 1860 census lists Hauff as a 24 year old watch maker living in the household of Soren Kolstad, a watch maker from Norway, in the Town of Palestine, Anderson County, Texas. Hauff and Wilson left for the City of Chicago before the Civil War started, but Thodberg stayed in Texas. After several months working in Chicago, Hauff and Wilson returned to Madison, where Hauff found work as a bookkeeper in the Town of Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin.
On October 20, 1861, Henry Nicolay Hauff enlisted for a 3 year term of service in Company G of the 15th Wisconsin. The men of Company G called themselves the "Rock River Rangers" after a river that flows through the counties that many of them were residents of. At the time Hauff was listed as being 25 years old and not married. His residence was recorded as Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin.
Based on a vote by company members, and with the recommendation of the 15th's commander, Colonel Hans C. Heg, Hauff was commissioned as the 1st Lieutenant (second-in-command) of Company G by Wisconsin Governor Randall on January 11, 1862, to rank from December 14, 1861. Also at Heg's recommendation, the Governor appointed George Wilson as the 2nd Lieutenant (third-in-command) of Company B. Samuel Thodberg ended up serving in the Confederate Army.
On January 14, 1862, the men of Company G were issued Belgian rifled muskets. After about 2 months at Camp Randall learning to be an officer and getting his men trained, Lieutenant Hauff left there on March 2, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. He is believed to 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. At Colonel Heg's recommendation, Lieutenant Hauff was appointed as acting Adjutant of the 15th Wisconsin on May 3, 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 General Buell up to the City of Louisville, State of Kentucky, with the last 2 weeks being on half rations and short of water. In a September 2, 1862, letter by Colonel Heg noted that he, Acting Adjutant Hauff, Lieutenant Colonel David McKee, and Sergeant Major Selah Mathews had formed a mess (a group of soldiers who cooked and ate together) and had hired "a good negro woman for cook."
On October 1, 1862, Acting Adjutant Hauff was commissioned as the Adjutant of the 15th by the Governor of Wisconsin. He was then 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. In a December 11, 1862, letter written near the City of Nashville, Tennessee, Colonel Heg mentioned that Adjutant Hauff and Selah Mathews (now the regiment's Quartermaster) were tentmates.
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. He would have also 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. In his official after action report, Colonel Heg wrote that Adjutant Hauff was 1 of several officers who...
| "...displayed more than ordinary courage and bravery, and deserve to be remembered" |
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. On May 8, 1863, Adjutant Hauff was commissioned as the new Captain (commander) of Company E by the Governor at the recommendation of Colonel Heg. On that same date he was appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant-General (AAAG) of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps (Army of the Cumberland) when Colonel Heg was given command of that newly formed brigade. It is said that Captain Hauff had a powerful voice which could be heard across the entire brigade. Captain Hauff worked closely with several other 15th soldiers who Colonel Heg had elevated to brigade positions, including: Captain Albert Skofstad serving as Brigade Inspector; Dr. Stephen O. Himoe as Brigade Surgeon; 1st Lieutenant Ole R. Dahl serving as Brigade Topographical Engineer; and 1st Sergeant Thor P. Sloan serving as Brigade Headquarters Clerk.
Starting June 23, 1863, Heg's brigade (with the 15th) took part in General Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign. In a June 29, 1863, letter to his wife, Colonel Heg wrote about the qualifications of various officers to someday command the 15th, saying "My Adjutant, Capt. Hauff, is a splindid man for that post..." On July 3, 1863, the brigade went into camp at the Town of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, for 6 weeks.
On August 17, 1863, Heg's Brigade left Winchester to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign. Captain Hauff is believed to have been present at the daring early morning crossing of the Tennessee River on August 28th, which the brigade led. He was also 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.
There, during the vicious fighting around Viniard's Farm on the afternoon of the 19th, Captain Hauff was killed in action in front of the Confederate 4th Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment. His "beautifully mounted and engraved sword" was recovered by John West, a soldier in Company E of the 4th, who later described Hauff as "a gallant Wisconsin officer." Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin includes this assessment of Henry Hauff.
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"He was a clever soldier and would have gone far if he had lived." |
Sources: Genealogical data provided by Derwood Johnson, from Dee Anna Grimsrud, MLIS, CGRS, and from Tove D. Johansen; Slægten Hauff 1648-1908 by Johannes K. Bergwitz (1908); The Civil War Letters of Colonel Hans Christian Heg edited by Theodore C. Blegen (Northfield, Minnesota, 1936); A Texan in Search of a Fight by John C. West (Waco, Texas, 1901); Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895); 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
February 20, 2002.