John S. Skjelstad
Database Record Change Request
| Name at Enlist | John S. Skjelstad |
| Birth Name | |
| Lived | ca. 1842 – |
| Resident of Muster-In | Black Earth, Dane County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | B |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 16 Nov 1861 |
John S. Skjelstad 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 as living in Black Earth, Dane County, WI, age 19, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 3, 1861 at Madison, WI, and mustered there on November 16, 1861 as a Private (Menig). Skjelstad was assigned to military police duty on the 17th, 20th and 24th of December 1861. He was wounded at Chickamauga, GA on September 19, 1863, and sent to hospital. He mustered out with Company B on December 1, 1864 at Chattanooga, TN.
Sources: WHS Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin; Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.36; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.398; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.329; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.297; 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.