Roster of Company A 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry The Scandinavian Regiment

Captain John (Johannes) M. Johnson of Company A
Commanded company from November 1862 until his death in battle September 19, 1863 at Chickamauga, Ga.
Photo Collection PH2361, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Picture appearing above has been electronically enhanced by Deep Vee Productions
To view the original, un-retouched image, click HERE

Below is a roster of the officers and enlisted men of Company A of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which served with distinction in the Federal Army during the American Civil War.  

Company A called itself the "St. Olaf's Rifles," but was also known as the "Sailor Company" because of the many mariners in its ranks, and as the "Chicago Company" because so many of its members were residents of that city.  It was primarily recruited from the City of Chicago and Boone County in the State of Illinois, with a few from: the Cities of Madison and La Crosse and Bad Ax (now Vernon) County in the State of Wisconsin; Winneshiek County in the State of Iowa; and from Houston County in the State of Minnesota.  

The 15th was known as the "Scandinavian Regiment" because its officers and enlisted men were almost all immigrants, predominantly from Norway, but also from Denmark and Sweden. While men from these countries served in many different Civil War units, Federal and Confederate, the 15th is the only 'all Scandinavian' regiment on either side.

Here are some things you should know before you use this roster. 

• It is based on the official roster published by the State of Wisconsin in 1886.  It includes a list of all the officers and enlisted men officially assigned to this company of the 15th Wisconsin at one time or another during its 3 year existence.  The 1886 roster was issued, in part, for use in securing military service pensions.  It is considered to be the most accurate roster available of Wisconsin's Civil War soldiers and sailors. 
  
  
• Beware of factual and spelling errors in this roster.  Some have been identified; others have not.  Some errors result from mistakes made when the official roster was transcribed to this page; when identified these errors are corrected by this site's webmaster.  Other errors are present in the original official roster published by the State of Wisconsin; none of these errors have been corrected on this page.  When an error in the official roster has been identified and documented, this site's webmaster will add the correct information [within brackets] where the error appears on this page.  If you suspect or are aware of an error on this page, please contact the webmaster.  Thank you.  
  
  
• Beware of variations in soldiers' names.  While some of the 15th's soldiers used their birth names when they enlisted, many dropped their farm name and others enlisted using 'Americanized' first names.  Some enlisted under different names at the urging of Army officials, who suggested this as a way to eliminate duplicate names.
  
  
• Beware of the term 'deserter' as used in this roster.  During the Civil War the U.S. Army required that men who had been absent from their units for several months, and who could not be accounted for, had to be officially listed as deserters by their unit.  Some of these men were not deserters.  This has often turned out to be true of 15th soldiers.  This mistake typically occurred when a sick or wounded soldier died, or was honorably discharged from the Army, at a location distant from his unit and the Army failed to get official notice of this to his unit.  When this happened to a Wisconsin soldier it resulted in his being officially listed as a deserter by his unit, the Army, the Federal government, and the State of Wisconsin, and thus on the State's official roster. 
  
  
• The left column lists the military ranks and the names of the men who held them in this company.  Like the official roster, the roster on this page is arranged by military rank, from highest to lowest.  Officers are listed in the order they held a specific rank; enlisted men are arranged alphabetically by last name.  Note: names that appear in the color blue and are underlined are links that can be clicked on to open a separate page containing a detailed profile of that soldier. 
  
  
• The Residence column lists the town or city where the soldier was living when he joined the 15th.  All are located in the State of Wisconsin, unless otherwise noted.
   
• The Rank From/Enlisted column lists the date each officer first officially held the rank shown (rank from) and the date each enlisted man enlisted in the 15th.
  
  
• The Remarks column includes official notations on the soldiers' military service in this company.  Remarks listed in the color red indicate that the soldier died or was killed while serving in the 15th Wisconsin.

To read a list of definitions for the abbreviations and terms used in this roster, click HERE

Source: "Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume I," pages 805-807, State of Wisconsin, Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wisconsin, 1886.

This page Copyright by Scott Cantwell Meeker of Deep Vee Productions.
All Rights Reserved. Created January 24, 1999. Last updated May 30, 2003.

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