Andrew Clement 1st Lieutenant of Company K 2nd Sergeant of Company D 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry The Scandinavian Regiment

Photo Collection PH2361, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Picture shown above has been enhanced electronically by Deep Vee Productions
To view the original, un-retouched image, click HERE

Born circa 1832, at ________________________________________
Parents were ________________ (1___-18__) and _________________ (1___-18__)
Immigrated to America, 18__
Apparently never married
Died September 23, 1864, Town of Briggsville, Portage County, State of Wisconsin
Buried at ________________________________________________

Andrew Clement was enlisted by Captain Charles Campbell as a Private in Company D of the 15th Wisconsin.  He joined up on October 5, 1861, at the Town of Waupun, Fond Du Lac County, State of Wisconsin, for a 3 year term of service.  The men of Company D called themselves the "Norway Wolf Hunters."  They were also known as the "Waupun Company" because a number of them were residents of that Wisconsin Town.  On January 1, 1862, Private Clement was appointed to the rank of 2nd Sergeant (Second Sersjant).  He was mustered into Federal service at Camp Randall near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin.  At the time he was 29 years old and not married.  He listed his residence as Waupun, Wisconsin.

On January 14, 1862, the 15th's soldiers were issued Belgian rifled muskets.  After several months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Sergeant Clement left there in early March, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war.  He 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 Sergeant Clement was with the 15th on campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama.  In August and September he 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 Clement was present at the October 8, 1862, Battle of Perryville, 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. 

At the recommendation of Colonel Han C. Heg, the 15th's commander, the Governor of Wisconsin commissioned Sergeant Clement to be the 1st Lieutenant (second-in-command) of Company K on November 8, 1862, with rank from October 10, 1862.  He filled the vacancy created when 1st Lieutenant Ole Peterson resigned August 31, 1862.  The commander of Company K was Captain Mons Grinager and its soon to be third-in-command was 2nd Lieutenant John P. Strommer.  The men of Company K called themselves "Clausen's Guards" in honor of the regiment's first Chaplain, Claus L. Clausen.  

On December 26, 1862, Lieutenant Clement 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.

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.  There on March 18, 1863, Clement was finally mustered into the Federal Army as a 1st Lieutenant, with his rank to officially date from November 17, 1862.  In May, 1863, Lieutenant Strommer was tricked into resigning his commission and was replaced when Sergeant Ellend Errickson was commissioned as the new 2nd Lieutenant.  Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in General Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign.  On July 3, 1863, it 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.  Lieutenant Clement 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, including all of the regiment's Field Officers.  For his actions at Chickamauga, Lieutenant Clement was cited in the regiment's official after action report as an officer...

After the battle Captain Grinager took command of the regiment, leaving Lieutenant Clement in command of Company K.  He led the company during the early phase of the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which began right after the battle.  The siege caused severe shortages of medicine, food, and firewood.  On October 8, 1863, Lieutenant Clement was captured near Chattanooga, while on picket (guard) duty.  Captain Grinager recounted this incident in Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin.

Lieutenant Clement was held less than a month before being "unconditionally released" by the Confederates at the Town of City Point, State of Virginia, on November 6, 1863.  He then spent a month recuperating at Camp Parole, near the City of Annapolis, State of Maryland.  On December 6, 1863, he was ordered to deliver a group of exchanged Union soldiers to General Hooker and then to report back to his regiment.  When he reached the 15th it was engaged in almost non-stop marching and counter-marching all over Eastern Tennessee.  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 this period nearly unbearable.

In January, 1864, Lieutenant Clement applied for a 30 day medical leave of absence. His request was favorably endorsed by Major George Wilson, then commanding the 15th, who wrote that Clement had been "suffering chronic diarrhea last 4 months."  The leave was approved in late January, and he returned to Portage County, Wisconsin, to recover.  Despite being back home, Lieutenant Clement's health did not improve.  He continued to apply for extensions to his leave, submitting doctor's reports in February, March, April, May, June, and July in support of his applications.  Each report stated that he was still suffering from chronic diarrhea.  Lieutenant Clement died of its cumulative effects that September.  On October 12, 1864, he was honorably discharged from the Army, retroactive to March 1, 1864, for reasons of disability.

Sources: 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); and Regimental Descriptive Rolls, Volume 20 by the Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1885).

This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created December 5, 1999. Last updated July 18, 2001.

Back to Profiles Page

Back to 15th Wisconsin Home Page