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Reinert Gabriel Torjeson MorbeckPrivate in Company F |
Taken circa 1888 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, at age 75
Photo courtesy
of Karen Morbeck Hayden
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Born October, 1813, Morbekk Farm, Dyngvoll,
Vandse-Lista, Vest Agder, Kingdom of Norway
Parents were Torgier Olson Morbekk
(1775-1847) and Karen Rejersdatter (1785-1848)
Married March 27, 1838, to Anne Cathrine
Olsdotter, at Lista, Vest Agder, Norway
Immigrated to America, 1852, on the
sailing ship 'Jorgen Brunchorst'
Married March 17, 1853,
to Anna
Olsdatter, at Town of Cambridge, Dane County, State of Wisconsin
Died
December 1, 1894, Town of Northfield, Rice County, State of Minnesota
Buried Northfield, Minnesota
Reinert G. T. Morbeck was enlisted for a 3 year term of service in Company F of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain Charles Gustafson. He joined up on November 17, 1861, at the Town of Manitowoc, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. A few months later his nephew Charly Morbeck also joined Company F. The men of Company F called themselves "K.K.'s Protectors" in honor of the 15th's first Lieutenant Colonel, Kiler K. Jones.
Reinert was mustered into Federal service at the rank of Private on December 12, 1861, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time the Army recorded him as a married resident of the Town of Two Creeks, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. It also listed him as being 49 years old, which made him one of the very oldest men to serve in the 15th.
After almost 3 months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Private Morbeck left there on March 2, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until June, 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.
After the Confederate surrender of Island No. 10 in early April, Company I was one of 5 companies from the 15th that were ordered to occupy and defend it. The island's fortifications were originally constructed to repulse an attack by Union forces coming down the Mississippi River. The 5 companies had to quickly re-construct the defenses to defeat an anticipated counterattack by Confederate forces coming up the river. This involved much hard labor building new earthworks and moving heavy cannon.
The soldiers assigned to Island No. 10 considered it a very unhealthy place to be, and not just because of the workload, bad water, fevers, and heat. 1st Lieutenant Andrew A. Brown of Company H wrote the following on April 22, 1862, in a letter to his mother.
| "...a detachment of five companies viz: A, F, H, I, K, are on the Island suffering greatly on account of the tough Quartermaster's concern which obtains the rations from the Government [and] trades them for something else and leaves the boys on the Island to get along as best they can... I almost thank God that there is a Hell to receive all such men." |
All of this took a toll on the men. Sometime in May, 1862, Private Morbeck's health began to fail. Nevertheless, on June 11, 1862, he is believed to have departed Island No. 10 by steamboat with Company F. It was one of 8 of the 15th's 10 companies ordered to take part in a summer campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama (the other 2 companies remained at Island No. 10 on extended guard duty).
The steamboat dropped the 8 companies at the Town of Columbus, Hickman County, Kentucky. From there they marched to the Town of Union City, Obion County, Tennessee, which they had successfully raided that spring. There on June 19, 1862, Private Morbeck was honorably discharged from the Army due to illness. Reinert's official "Certificate of Disability for Discharge" from the Army listed him as "standing 5 feet 8 inches tall" with "blue eyes, dark hair, and a fair complexion," and having been a "Physician" at the time he enlisted. The following is from the certificate.
| "He enlisted for the purpose of serving as Hospital Attendant which duties he has faithfully performed until his failing health has compelled him to desist." |
After his discharge Reinert returned to Two Creeks. On June 29, 1865, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States of America in a ceremony at the Town of Manitowoc. In 1868 he moved to the Town of Manitowoc, where he lived until 1890. He is recorded as having worked there as a laborer in 1868, a butcher in 1870, and as a farmer in 1880. In 1892 he moved to Northfield, Minnesota, where he passed away 2 years later.
Sources: Genealogical data from Karen Morbeck Hayden; Civil War Compiled Military Service Records by Office of Adjutant General of the United States (Washington, DC); Civil War Compiled Veteran Pension Records, by Pension Office, Dept. of the Interior (Washington, DC); 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).
This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep
Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created November 2, 2000. Last updated
December 10, 2001.