Niels Brown
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | Niels Brown |
| Birth Name | |
| Lived | – |
| Resident of Muster-In | Chicago, Cook County, IL |
| Company at Enlistment | A |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 25 Nov 1861 |
Niels Brown joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company A. The men of the company called themselves the “St. Olaf’s Rifles.” They were also known as the “Sailor Company” because of the large number of seamen in its ranks, and as the “Chicago Company” because so many of its members were residents of that city.
The army listed Brown as living in Chicago, IL and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 26, 1861 at Chicago, and mustered on November 25, 1861 at Madison, WI as a Private (Menig). He was absent due to an arrest since May 17, 1862 after a “Syttende Mai” party. He was in jail at Mississippi River Island No. 10. He escaped and disappeared on July 11, 1862. He was listed as deserted.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-3; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.14; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, compiled circa 1885, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.12; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p.348; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.262.