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Thor P. Sloan (Slaaen)1st Sergeant of Company E |
Believed to have been taken circa January, 1862
Photo
Collection PH2361, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
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Born 1833, Nordre Fron, Gudbrandsdalen, Kingdom of Norway
Parents
were ______________________ and ______________________
Immigrated
to America, 1856
Died June 28, 1864, Town of Big Shanty, State of Georgia
Buried at
__________________________________________________
Thor P. Sloan was enlisted in Company E of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain John Ingmundson at the Town of La Crosse, La Crosse County, State of Wisconsin, on December 11, 1861, for a 3 year term of service. The men of Company E called themselves "Odin's Rifles." Thor was appointed to the rank of Sergeant in Company E on December 11, 1861. He was then mustered into Federal service at that rank on December 20, 1861, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time he was 28 years old and his residence was listed as the Town of Buchanan, La Crosse County, Wisconsin.
On January 14, 1862, the men of Company E were issued Belgian rifle muskets. On March 2, 1862, after nearly 3 months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Sergeant Sloan left there in early March, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until July, 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. That summer he would have been with the 15th on the 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.
Sergeant Sloan would have also 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 first big battle the 15th was in, it emerged without any fatalities. On December 26, 1862, Sergeant Sloan took part 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 then fought in the long, cold, wet, and bloody Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, also called the Battle of Murfreesboro, at the end of December, 1862, and the beginning of January, 1863. It is there that the 15th first suffered serious battle casualties, and was cited for bravery. It is said that Sergeant Sloan was taken prisoner during the battle, but managed to quickly escape. The following is from a letter dated January 12, 1863, that he wrote to his comrade Osten Rulland.
"Oh, what a
life and existence and what periods and hardships we have to endure during storms and bad
weather, both day and night. In addition, many suffer from poor food and lack of
support. I can truthfully say that I would care neither about profit nor anything
else if I could get out of the military safe and sound. But this is, of course,
nothing to discuss here since one has to do his duty. I also want to tell you that
we have had a very sorrowful Christmas. I am healthy, thank God, and ought to be
satisfied, but we have still suffered a great deal and have seen human bodies blown apart
and disfigured. It is all the fault of the big politicians. |
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 1, 1863, Sergeant Sloan was appointed to the rank of 1st Sergeant of Company E. Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in General Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign. On July 1, 1863, 1st Sergeant Sloan was assigned as a Clerk in the headquarters of Heg's Brigade (3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland) by order of the brigade commander Colonel Hans C. Heg. It is said that 1st Sergeant Sloan was an intelligent man who had beautiful handwriting. On July 3, 1863, the brigade, which the 15th was part of, went into camp at the Town of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, for 6 weeks.
On August 17, 1863, the brigade left Winchester to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign. Sergeant Sloan 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, Georgia -- the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War. He survived the vicious fighting around Viniard's Farm on the first afternoon, as well as the near capture of the brigade around midday on the 20th during Longstreet's Breakthrough. Some 57% of the brigade's soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, as were 63% of the 15th.
1st Sergeant Sloan would have then been in Chattanooga, Tennessee, during the Confederate siege of that place, which began right after the battle. The siege caused severe shortages of medicine, food, and firewood. 1st Sergeant Sloan was again listed as "present" with the regiment starting on October 31, 1863, but was then detached again beginning November 18, 1863, this time to go on recruiting duty in Wisconsin. As such he missed taking part with the 15th in the November 25, 1863, attack on Mission Ridge, which ended the siege and sent the Confederate Army fleeing south. 1st Sergeant Sloan was next recorded as being"present" in Madison, Wisconsin, in December, 1863.
1st Sergeant Sloan returned to the regiment in March or April, 1864. He was commissioned as the 1st Lieutenant of Company E by the Governor of Wisconsin on April 4, 1864. Lieutenant Sloan then served with the 15th on Major General William T. Sherman's famous campaign to capture the City of Atlanta in the State of Georgia, in the spring and summer of 1864. This campaign was marked by almost daily marching and/or combat for 4 months. Lieutenant Sloan and the 15th took part in the 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, including some 25 men who were captured, most of whom ended up in the notorious Andersonville Prison Camp.
On June 21, 1864, the regiment fought at Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, where Sloan was "wounded in the head." It is said that he was struck by an artillery shell fragment while making coffee over a campfire with 1st Lieutenants Nils J. Gilbert of Company A and Thor Simonson of Company F.
1st Lieutenant Sloan subsequently died of his wound in an Army hospital at the Town of Big Shanty, Georgia, on June 28, 1864. He died before being officially mustered into the Army at the rank of 1st Lieutenant. In the Army's Final Statement on 1st Sergeant Sloan he is described as having been born in the Kingdom of Norway, standing 5 feet, 8 inches tall, with a light complexion, blue eyes, and dark hair, and being a Farmer by occupation. Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin says this about him.
"He was a quiet, honest, and conscientious man." |
Sources: Genealogical data provided by The Westby Area Historical Society, Ellen Pederson; Coon Valley by Hjalmer R. Holand (Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1928); Civil War Compiled Military Service Records by Office of Adjutant General of the United States (Washington, DC); 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); 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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