Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Berge Olsen Brække was born on September 29, 1835, in Evanger parish, Voss, Hordaland, Norway. He left the parish for Amerika in 1857.

As Berge O. Lee, he enlisted in Company H of the 15th WI by Captain (later Lieutenant Colonel) Hans C. Heg. It was also known as the Voss Company because a large number of its members hailed from the Voss region of Norway. On January 16, 1862, Lee was appointed to the rank of Corporal (Korporal) in Company H. Corporal Lee was mustered into Federal service at that rank on February 13, 1862, at Camp Randall near Madison, Dane County, WI. At the time he was recorded as being 25 years old, not married, and a resident of Deerfield, Dane County, WI.

After only a few weeks at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Corporal Lee left there in early March 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. From then until February 1865, he was listed as “present” with the 15th. As such he would have participated in the successful siege of Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River in Tennessee and the surprise raid on Union City, TN, in March and April 1862. That summer he would have been with the 15th on campaign though Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. In August and September he would have participated in the grueling 400-mile retreat with General Buell up to Louisville, KY, with the last two weeks being on half rations and short of water.

Corporal Lee would also have been present at the October 8, 1862, Battle of Perryville, KY, which is also called the Battle of Chaplin Hills. While this was the first big battle the 15th was in, it emerged without any fatalities. In late December he would have participated in the 15th’s desperate charge upon a Confederate artillery battery at Knob Gap, TN, just south of Nashville. There the 15th captured a brass cannon. He would have also fought at the long, cold, wet, and bloody Battle of Stones River, TN, also called the Battle of Murfreesboro, at the end of December 1862. It is there that the 15th first suffered serious battle casualties, and was cited for bravery. One of those cited was Corporal Lee. The following is from Buslett’s 1895 history of the 15th WI:

After the battle General Rosecrans issued an order to the various regiments’ commanders to submit to headquarters a list of one sergeant, two corporals and four or five privates in each company (altogether no more than six from each company), who had shown the greatest courage and ability during the battle. These would be entered on the Roll of Honor.

At the recommendation of Colonel Heg, Corporal Lee was entered into the Roll of Honor for the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps.

The 15th camped in the Murfreesboro area for the next six months, except for two weeks in February when it was sent to Franklin, TN. Starting June 23, 1863, the regiment took part in General Rosecrans’ Tullahoma campaign. On July 3, 1863, it camped at Winchester, TN. On August 17, 1863, the 15th left there to participate in General Rosecrans’ Chickamauga campaign. Corporal Lee is believed to have been present at the daring early morning crossing of the Tennessee River on August 28th, which the 15th led. He was present at the September 19-20, 1863, fighting at Chickamauga, GA — the second bloodiest battle of the Civil War. He survived the vicious fighting around Viniard’s Farm on the first afternoon, as well as the near capture of the regiment around midday on the 20th during Longstreet’s Breakthrough. Some 63% of the 15th’s soldiers who were at Chickamauga were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

Corporal Lee would have then served with the regiment during the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, TN, which began right after the battle. The siege resulted in severe shortages of food and firewood which, together with cold, wet weather, caused much suffering, sickness, and death. The Confederate siege was finally broken by the Union Army’s victorious charge up Mission Ridge on November 25, 1863, which Corporal Lee and the 15th took part in.

Starting right after Mission Ridge, the 15th was engaged in almost non-stop marching and counter-marching all over eastern Tennessee throughout the winter of 1863/1864. By many original accounts, this was the worst period of the regiment’s three-year term of service. Poor rations, inadequate clothing and shelter, and unseasonably cold weather made these months nearly unbearable.

Starting in May 1864, the 15th participated in General Sherman’s famous campaign to capture Atlanta, GA. Corporal Lee served with the 15th all through the campaign, which was marked by almost daily marching and/or combat for four months. The 15th was involved in the fighting at Rocky Face Ridge, GA, in early May 1864; at the bloody Battle of Resaca, GA, on May 14-15, 1864; and at the disastrous Battle of Pickett’s Mill (often called Dallas or New Hope Church), GA, on May 27, 1864, where the 15th suffered fearful casualties. The 15th and Corporal Lee also took part in the fighting at Kenesaw Mountain, GA, on June 23, 1864; Atlanta on July 22, 1864; Jonesboro, GA, on September 1, 1864; and Lovejoy Station, GA, on September 4, 1864.

After a rest following the capture of Atlanta in early September 1864, the 15th was briefly assigned to Provost (police) duty in Chattanooga at the start of October 1864. This was followed by several months duty guarding a railroad bridge at Whitesides, TN, which some of the 15th’s soldiers felt was the easiest duty of their war service.

Corporal Lee was mustered out of Federal service along with most of the other surviving members of Company H on February 13, 1865 at Chattanooga, TN, upon the end of his three-year term of service.

After the war, he married Ellen Anderson (Kroshus) on January 21, 1867. They had at least eight children: Julie Caroline (1867-1940), John Olai/John B. (1869-1928) Maria H./Mary (1871-1934), Bernhard O. (1877-1880), Clara A. (1879-1905), Oskar Bernhard (1880-1882), William Arven (1884-bef 1887), and Edwin Elmer/Edward (1889-1952).

The family relocated several times. They left Iowa in 1869 and lived in Tordenskjold, Otter Tail County, MN. After General Custer’s army lost at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, Lee’s land became an important refuge for his fellow settlers in western Minnesota, as there were fears of Native American attacks. So, Lee and fellow Civil War veteran, Hans Juelson, constructed a fort on Lee’s land to protect other settlers. They situated Fort Juelson on a hilltop amongst ancient Native American burial mounds. According to a description of the fort in the Fergus Falls Journal in 1876,

As seen from a distance this is a more formmidable earthwork than we saw in six months in the army of the Potomac, with the single exception of Yorktown, and in it 50 or a 100 men under the command of Capt. Juelson with arms and ammunition could keep the entire Sioux nation at bay. The building of this for as manual exercise and exhibition of military skill and courage was FAR BETTER THAN RUNNING AWAY… [capitalizations by original author.]

The Lee family left the farm and fort by 1880 and were living in Moland, Clay County, MN. Seven years later, they were in Pierce County, WA. Lee died on November 12, 1909 and is buried in Anderson Cemetery, East Stanwood, Snohomish, WA. His headstone says “Corp 15 Wis Inf.”

Sources: Civil War Compiled Military Service Records by Office of Adjutant General of the United States (Washington, DC); Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, B. Anundsen, Decorah, IA; Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Volume I, Office of the Adjutant General State of Wisconsin (Madison, WI, 1886); 1870 Census, Roll: T132_9, Page: 798, Image: 55, Family History Library Film: 830429; 1880 Census, Roll: 617, Family History Film: 1254617, Page: 511A, Enumeration District: 188, Image: 0427; 1885 MN Census, MNSC_23, Line 16; 1900 Census, Roll: 1750, Page: 3B, Enumeration District: 0211, FHL microfilm: 1241750; Minnesota Historical Society, http://www.mnhs.org/shpo/nrhp/docs_pdfs/0053_fortjuelson.pdf; “Norwegian Immigrants 1850 and later”, database, NAGCNL, #27645; digitalarkivet.no; ancestry.com; findagrave.com.