Helge Olsson
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| Name at Enlist | Helge Olsson |
| Birth Name | |
| Other Names | Alfson, Olfsen, Olson |
| Lived | ca. 1826 – 25 Apr 1863 |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Onalaska, La Crosse County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | G |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 9 Dec 1861 |
| Cause of Death | Congestive fever |
| Death Location | Columbus, OH |
| Burial Location | National Cemetery at Mound City, IL; section C, grave 3053 |
Helge Olsson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company G. The men of the company called themselves the “Rock River Rangers.”
The army listed him as living in Onalaska, La Crosse County, WI, born in Norway, age 35, unmarried, and a farmer. He had blue eyes, brown hair, reddish complexion, and stood 5’8½”. He enlisted for three years on November 19, 1861 at Onalaska and mustered at Madison, WI as a Private (Menig) on December 9, 1861. On order of Brigadier General Quinby, Olsson was sent to the Military Hospital in Washington, D.C. in August 1862 for mental illness. He died at a hospital in Columbus, OH of congestive fever on April 25, 1863 (Hospital records show death at April 8, 1863.) He was buried in the National Cemetery at Mound City, IL; section C, grave 3053.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-9,18; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.540; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.315; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.313; Hedberg. (Military death certificate shows name as Helge Alfson.)