Knud Erickson
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| Name at Enlist | Knud Erickson |
| Birth Name | Knud Ericksen |
| Other Names | Knut Eriksen Rjoe, Knud Erickson, Knud Erikson |
| Lived | 1 Jan 1839 – ca. 1903 or 1916 |
| Birth Place | Voss, Hordaland |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | Neshonoc, La Crosse County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | B |
| 2nd Company | H |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 5 Jan 1864 |
| Death Location | Milwaukee, WI |
| Mother | Christi Knudsdatter Bakkethun |
| Father | Erik Vikingsen Rjoe |
| Immigration | 2 Aug 1844 |
| Spouse | Brita Sjursdatter Hylle |
Canute Erickson was born January 1, 1839 in Voss, Hordaland, Norway, the son of Erik Vikingsen Rjoe and Christi Knudsdatter Bakkethun. He came to America with his parents and two sisters on “Ørnen”, sailing from Bergen and arriving in NY on August 2, 1844. He was married Brita Sjursdatter Hylle. He 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 Erickson as living in Neshonoc, La Crosse County, WI, age 36. and a farmer. He had blue eyes, light hair, sandy complexion, and stood 5’6”. He enlisted for three years on January 5, 1864 at La Crosse, WI, and mustered there the same day as a Private (Menig). He joined the company at Knoxville, TN on February 19, 1864. He was wounded in the battle at New Hope Church, GA, and sent to the hospital. He transferred to Company H on December 1, 1864, then to 24th Infantry, and later to I Company of the 13th Infantry on June 10, 1865. He mustered out on November 24, 1865. In 1903, Erickson’s widow, Kari, filed a pension in 1903 in MN. It is not known when Brita died or when he married Kari, but the military information on the pension is consistent with Erickson’s record.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office box 76-13; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.30; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p.380; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.279; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.295; Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol I , Compiled under direction of the Adjutant General, Madison, WI, 1886, p.808; Norwegian Immigrants to the United States. A Biographical Directory, 1825-1850. Volume Two. 1844-1846, Gerhard B. Naeseth (Decorah, IA, 1997), number 858; Civil War Pension Index, Roll #T288_144.