Michael Olson
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | Michael Olson |
| Birth Name | |
| Lived | ca. 1843 – 9 Nov 1864 |
| Resident of Muster-In | Stoughton, Dane County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | B |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 16 Nov 1861 |
| Cause of Death | Diarrhea |
| Death Location | Andersonville Prison, Macon County, GA |
| Burial Location | Andersonville National Cemetery, Macon County, GA, grave 11,931 |
Michael Olson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company B. The men of the company called themselves the “Wergeland Guards” in honor of Henrik Wergeland, the famous Norwegian writer and poet.
The army listed him as living in Stoughton, Dane County, WI, age 18, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 27, 1861 at Madison, WI, and mustered there on November 16, 1861 as a Private (Menig). Olson was sick at Bowling Green, KY on November 4, 1862. He served as an escort with the provision transport from Stevenson, AL on October 13, 1863. Olson was taken prisoner at Battle of New Hope Church, GA on May 27, 1864. He died of disease (diarrhea) in Andersonville Prison on November 9, 1864. He was buried in grave 11,931.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-4; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, Decorah, IA, p.394; GPO, p.148; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.296; Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol I & II, Compiled under direction of the Adjutant General, Madison, WI, 1886, p.809; ancestry.com; “Prisoners who died at Andersonville Prison” Atwater List, 1865.