Roster of Unassigned Recruits

Below is a roster of men who were recruited into the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment after it left Wisconsin for the war, but who never physically reported to the 15th and thus were never assigned to one of its companies. 

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 was 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.  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.  
  
  
• The Union Army basically lost track of these men.  Most are believed to have gotten sick and either died or been discharged from the Army for medical reasons before they were able to reach the 15th where it was stationed in the South.  However, it is possible that some of these men may have deserted the Army before reporting to the 15th.
  
  
• The Name column lists the names of the men.  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.
   
• The Date column lists the date that each man enlisted in the 15th.
  
  
• The Remarks column includes official notations on the soldiers' military service in this company.  Because these men never reported to the 15th, there is little listed.

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," page 829, 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 November 24, 2001.

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