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Ole
Tostensen Westby
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Image believed to have been taken post-Civil War
Photo
Collection PH2361, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
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enhanced electronically by Deep Vee Productions
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Born May 2, 1840, at Vesby, Gullord, Biri, Kingdom of Norway
Parents
were Tosten Olsen Gullord (1815-1871) and Berte Evensdatter Upper Galtestad (1814-18__)
Immigrated to
America, 1849
Married November 16, 1865, to Sarah Dahl (18__-1___) at
_____________________________
Died January 7, 1898, Village of Westby, Vernon County,
State of Wisconsin
Buried in Coon Valley Cemetery, Vernon County, Wisconsin
When Ole came to America with his family, his father adopted the surname of Westby in honor of tenant farm Vestby on the Gullord farm where he had lived in Norway. Twelve years later Ole T. Westby (sometimes spelled Westbye or Wistbye by the Army) was enlisted in Company H of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain Knud J. Sime. Ole joined up at the Town of La Crosse, La Crosse County, State of Wisconsin, on December 24, 1861, for a 3 year term of service.
The men of Company H called themselves "Heg's Rifles" in honor of the 15th commander, Colonel Hans Christian Heg. They were also known as the "Voss Company" because of a large number of them who were from the Voss region of Norway. Ole 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 22 years old and not married. His residence was listed as Bad Ax (now Vernon) County, Wisconsin.
After only 2 weeks at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Private Westby left there on March 2, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until July, 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. Starting sometime in May or June, 1862, he was listed as a Musician. It is said that he played the fife.
Starting June 11, 1862, Ole left Island No. 10 with 8 of the 15th's 10 companies to take part in a summer campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama. On July 22, 1862, Musician Westby was listed as being "sent to hospital" at the Town of Monterey, Mississippi. In August, 1862, he was sent from there to the General Hospital at the City of Saint Louis, State of Missouri. In November, 1862, Musician Westby returned to Company H, which was stationed near Nashville, Tennessee. At that time he was "reduced to ranks" as a Private effective November 1, 1862. Private Westby was then "present" with the 15th until he was mustered out in early 1865.
In late December, 1862, Private Westby 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 fighting at Stone River, Tennessee, also called the Battle of Murfreesboro, at the end of December, 1862, and into early January, 1863. It is there that the 15th first suffered serious battle casualties, and was cited for bravery.
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, and for a short expedition to the Town of Shelbyville, Tennessee, on March 6, 1863. According to Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th, the following occurred during the Shelbyville expedition.
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"Ole T. Westby was one of the two unarmed orderlies who were with Colonel Heg when they captured two armed Rebel sentries by surprising them." |
Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in U.S. Major General William S. Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign. On July 3, 1863, the 15th went into camp at the Town of Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee, for 6 weeks.
On August 17, 1863, the 15th left Winchester to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign. Private Westby 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 regiment around midday on the 20th during Longstreet's Breakthrough. Some 63% of the 15th's soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
Private Westby would have then served with the regiment during the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which started right after the battle. The siege resulted in severe shortages of food, medicine, and firewood which, together with cold, wet weather, caused much suffering, sickness, and death. The 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 right after Mission Ridge, Private Westby and the other survivors of the 15th were engaged in almost non-stop marching and counter-marching 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.
Starting in May, 1864, Private Westby served with the 15th in the famous campaign led by U.S. Major General William T. Sherman to capture the City of Atlanta, Georgia. It was marked by almost daily marching and/or combat for 4 months. In the opening part of the campaign the 15th fought 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 mistakenly referred to as Dallas or New Hope Church), Georgia on May 27, 1864. There the 15th suffered 50% casualties, including 29 soldiers captured. Most of them ended up dying of malnutrition-related diseases in the infamous Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia.
Private Westby was also present with the 15th when it took part in the fighting at Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia, on June 23, before Atlanta on July 22, at Jonesboro, Georgia, on September 1, and at Lovejoy Station, Georgia, on September 4, 1864. It was there, at the final fight for Atlanta, that Private Westby received a "flesh wound in right arm." The next several weeks were spent resting in and around Atlanta. Its capture helped Abraham Lincoln win re-election that fall to a second term as President, guaranteeing that the war would be fought until the Confederate States of America was destroyed.
In early October the 15th was briefly assigned to Provost (police) duty in Chattanooga. This was followed by several months spent guarding a railroad bridge at Whitesides, Tennessee, near Chattanooga. Some of the 15th's soldiers felt this was the easiest duty of their war service.
On February 13, 1865, Private Westby was mustered out of Federal service at Chattanooga, along with most of the other surviving members of Company H, when their 3 year terms of service ended. At muster out Private Westby was listed by the Army as being owed $100 in bounty money from the government.
After being mustered out Ole Westby returned to Vernon County and purchased 80 acres of farmland in the Town of Coon. He also got married and began a family that eventually included 11 children. In 1867 Ole opened a general store in Christiana Township. In 1879 the settlement around his store was officially named the Village of Westby in his honor.
Ole was a member of the Norwegian Lutheran Church and the Republican Party as well as the Lowrey Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and the Westby lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. According to his death certificate, Ole passed away of throat cancer. In the 1907 Memoirs of Vernon County Ole T. Westby was remembered thus.
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"He was a man of sterling character and marked business ability and his life counted for good in its various relations." |
Sources: Genealogical data provided by The Westby Area Historical Society, Ellen Pederson; genealogical data provided by Bjørn Herberg; Vernon County Heritage: 150th Anniversary by Vernon County Historical Society (Viroqua, Wisconsin, 1994); Memoirs of Vernon County edited by Earl M. Rodgers (1907); 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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All Rights Reserved. Created November 15, 1999. Last updated
July 27, 2001.