Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Swen Bjorgason was born in Norway. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company F. The men of the company called themselves “KK’s Protectors” in honor of the 15th’s first Lieutenant Colonel, Kiler K. Jones. “F” was also known as the Valdres Company because a large number of its members hailed from the Valdres region of Norway.

The army listed Bjorgason as living in Manitowoc, Manitowoc County, WI, a farmer, unmarried, and age 20. He had blue eyes, light hair, light complexion, and stood 5’11”. He enlisted for three years on November 5, 1861 at Manitowoc, and mustered at Madison, WI on December 12, 1861 as a Private (Menig). He was sick in hospital in July 1982 and sick in the hospital at Iuka, MS on August 21, 1862. He was wounded at Stones River, TN on December 31, 1862, shot through his leg by a musket ball. His leg was amputated above the knee and he was sent to a hospital in Nashville, TN. He was then moved to a hospital in Louisville, KY and then to Madison, WI. He was discharged from the service there on Julu 13, 1864 because of disability due to his wound.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-8,15; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.86; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p 499; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.272; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.306; The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union, Edwin B. Quiner, 1866, Clarke & Co., Chicago, p.621.