Born circa 1832, Kingdom of Norway
Immigrated to America,
1852
Lars A. Larson was enlisted in Company K of the 15th Wisconsin by Captain (Kaptein) Mons Grinager. Lars joined up on December 12, 1861, in Freeborn County, State of Minnesota. The men of Company K called themselves Clausen's Guards in honor of the 15th's first Chaplain, Pastor Claus L. Clausen. Lars was appointed as a Corporal (Korporal) in Company K on February 1, 1862. He was mustered into Federal service at that rank for a 3 year term of service on February 11, 1862, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time he was 29 years old and not married. His residence was listed as Freeborn County, Minnesota.
After several months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Corporal Larson left there in early March, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From May, 1862, until August, 1862, he was recorded as "present." As such he would have been at the Siege of Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River, and on the Raid on Union City, in the State of Tennessee, in March and April. Starting in June he would have been on campaign through the States of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. On July 1, 1862, Corporal Larson was appointed as a Sergeant (Sersjant) in Company K. He was next listed as left sick in hospital starting August 21, 1862. It is unclear how much, if any, 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 Larson did not return to the regiment until sometime in November, 1862. He therefore was absent during the October 8, 1862, Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, also called the Battle of Chaplin Hills. He was back with the 15th before December 26, 1862, when it participated in a 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 next have 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.
Sergeant Larson remained with the 15th until mid-September, 1863. The regiment camped in the Murfreesboro area from January till June, 1863, except for 2 weeks in February when it was sent to the Town of Franklin, Tennessee. Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in General Rosecrans' Tullahoma campaign. On July 3, 1863, it camped at Winchester, Tennessee. On August 17, 1863, the 15th left there to participate in General Rosecran's Chickamauga campaign. Sergeant Larson 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, Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia -- the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Some 63% of the 15th's soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, and one of them was Sergeant Larson. On the afternoon of the first day of the battle he was seriously wounded during the vicious fighting around Viniard's Farm. Buslett's 1895 history of the 15th Wisconsin contains this statement about Sergeant Larson.
| "He was close to Colonel Heg when the colonel fell off his horse [after being shot], and helped him away from the battlefield." |
The next day Sergeant Larson was taken prisoner by the Confederates, probably when the Union hospital at Crawfish Springs was captured. At some point between September 20th and October 2, 1863, he was paroled to Union forces at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and admitted to a field Hospital there. This was during the period of the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which began right after the battle. The siege caused severe shortages of food and firewood which, combined with cold, wet weather, cause much illness and death. It was not until the Union Army's victorious charge up Mission Ridge on November 25, 1863, which the 15th took part in, that the siege was finally broken.
Sergeant Larson was next listed as being in the Cumberland Hospital, City of Nashville, Tennessee, in February, March, and May, 1864. After this he was noted as being present at Benton Barracks, near the City of Saint Louis, State of Missouri, from August, 1864, until sometime in early 1865. Sergeant Larson was mustered out of Federal service on February 20, 1865, at Madison, Wisconsin, upon the expiration of his 3 year term of service.
Afterwards Larson returned to Freeborn County, Minnesota. In 1867 he was commissioned by Wisconsin Governor Fairchild as a Brevet 2nd Lieutenant (Secondløitnant) with rank from November 10, 1864. Brevet ranks were awarded for bravery in battle.
There is evidence that Lars A. Larson was living in the Town of Lake Park, in Becker County, Minnesota, in 1880.
Sources: Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] by Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895); Civil War Compiled Military Service Records by Office of Adjutant General of the United States (Washington, DC); and, Regimental Descriptive Rolls, Volume 20 Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisconsin, 1885).
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