Rier Thorsen
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| Name at Enlist | Rier Thorsen |
| Birth Name | Reier Toresen Lien |
| Other Names | Reier Thoresen; Reid |
| Lived | 11 Feb 1840 – |
| Birth Place | Nore parish, Buskerud fylke |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Newark, Rock County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | G |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 9 Jan 1864 |
| Mother | Birgit Rejersdatter Kyllesdahl |
| Mother Lived | 12 Dec 1811- |
| Father | Thore Fingarsen Raaen (later Lien) |
| Father Lived | 1803- |
| Immigration | 1853 |
Reier Toresen was born on the Lien farm, Nore parish, Buskerud and left the parish April 30, 1853 with his parents, brothers and sister.
As Rier Thorsen he joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company G. The men of the company called themselves the “Rock River Rangers.” His brother, Fingar Thoresen, also served in Company G.
The army listed him as living in Newark, Rock County, WI, born in Norway, farmer, age 23 and married. He had blue eyes, light hair, light complexion, and 5’1¾”. He enlisted for three years on January 9, 1864, at Janesville, WI, and mustered there on the same day and a Private (Menig) with a bounty of $302. Thorsen was wounded in a hand at the Battle of Resaca, GA, on May 14, 1864, and sent to a hospital in Madison, WI. He transferred to Company H at Whiteside, TN, on January 1, 1865 and then transferred to I Company of the WI 13th Regiment on June 10, 1865. In 1890, he filed a pension as an invalid living in IA.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-9; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol. 18, p. 184, vol. 20, p. 106; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers] Ole A. Buslett, 1894, Decorah, IA, p. 545; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 336; Civil War Pension Index, Roll # T288_472, Nore parish register #I 1, born and baptised, p. 15, Rollag parish register #I5, born and baptised, pp. 131, 239, #I8, in- and out-migrated, p. 353, digitalarkivet.no