Knud Olson
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | Knud Olson |
| Birth Name | Knud Olsen Ygre |
| Lived | 29 Oct 1844 – |
| Birth Place | Ygre, Voss parish, Hordaland fylke |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA |
| Company at Enlistment | F |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 29 Dec 1861 |
| Mother | Margrethe Monsdatter |
| Father | Ole Nielsen Ygre |
| Immigration | 1856 |
Knud Olson was born “Knud Olsen Ygre” in Voss parish, Hordaland, Norway on October 29, 1844. His parents were Ole Nielsen Ygre and Margrete. He left the parish April 24, 1856 with his parents and siblings for America. He was confirmed in 1860 at Washington Prairie Church in Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA.
He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company F. The men of the company called themselves “KK’s Protectors” in honor of the 15th’s first Lieutenant Colonel, Kiler K. Jones. “F” was also known as the Valdres Company because a large number of its members hailed from the Valdres region of Norway.
The army listed him as living in Decorah, Winneshiek County, IA, age 18, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on December 25, 1861 at Decorah and mustered at Madison, WI on December 29, 1861 as a Private (Menig). He was wounded at Chickamauga, GA on September 20, 1863, and taken prisoner. Olson was held in Libby Prison, Richmond, VA. What eventually happened to him is unknown; he was still a prisoner at time of his regiment’s muster out. Other records indicate he was discharged from the service on November 4, 1865 (1864?) from the post hospital in Camp Randall, Madison, WI because of inflammation on his left side.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-8; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.90; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.513; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.308; Lars Gjertveit, Bodo, Norway; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.340; U.S. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records; Voss parish register #A13, born and baptised, p.97, #A20, in- and out-migrated, p. 251, digitalarkivet.no.