Born March 10, 1827, Augard (Utgard) farm,
Lesja, Kingdom of Norway
Parents were Ole Eriksen (1___-1___) and Mari Johannesdtr. Udgaard
(1___-1___)
Immigrated to America,
1859
Married ________________ on _______________
at ________________
Died September 9, 1862, Town of Columbus, Hickman County,
State of Kentucky
Buried at ___________________________________________________
Ingebreth Olson was enlisted by Captain Knud J. Sime in Company H of the 15th Wisconsin on February 1, 1862, for a 3 year term of service. The men of Company H called themselves "Heg's Rifles" in honor of the 15th's first commander, Colonel Hans C. Heg. It was also known as the "Voss Company" because so many of its members came from that region of Norway.
Ingebreth was mustered into Federal service at the rank of Private on February 13, 1862, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time the Army recorded him as being a 32 year old married resident of the Town of Elgin, Fayette County, State of Iowa.
After only 3 weeks at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Private Olson 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 H 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. The following is from a June 4, 1862, letter written by Private Lars Olsen Dokken of Company H to his parents.
| "Many men of the regiment are sick and confined to the hospital. Five members of our company have died since we came to the island and six are at present in the hospital..." |
One of them was Private Olson, and he was listed as "sick in the hospital" on June 11, 1862. That day Company H departed Island No. 10 by steamboat; it was the last day he served with his comrades. Company H was one of 8 of the regiment's 10 companies that were ordered away to take part in a summer campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama, never to return to the island.
At some point that summer Private Olson was transported by steamboat up the Mississippi River to an Army hospital in the Town of Columbus, Kentucky. It was there that he passed away as a result of "disease."
Sources: Bygdebok for Lesja, Volume 3 by Arnfinn Kjelland (Lesja, Norway, 1996); 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).
This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep
Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created January 1, 2001. Last updated
December 8, 2001.