Civil War Soldiers Record Database

William Johnson was born in Norway. In 1860, He was living in Christiana, WI and working as a farm laborer.

Johnson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company H. The men of the company called themselves “Heg’s Rifles” in honor of the 15th commander, Colonel Hans C. Heg. They were also known as the “Voss Company” because of a large number of them who were from the Voss region of Norway. The army listed him as living in Christiana, Dane County, WI, age 27, unmarried, and a sawmill master. He had blue eyes, dark hair, dark complexion, and stood 5’9”. Johnson enlisted for three years on December 28, 1861 at Madison, WI, and mustered there on February 13, 1862 as a Corporal (Korporal).

Johnson was sick in Chattanooga, TN in November 1862. He was wounded at Resaca, GA on May 14, 1864; he was hit by a shell fragment that shattered his skull. He died of that wound in a hospital at Nashville, TN on June 10, 1864 and was buried in the National Cemetery at Nashville; section J, grave 239.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-10,18; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.112; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.564; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.263; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.310; The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union, Edwin B. Quiner, 1866, Clarke & Co., Chicago, p.628; 1860 Census, Roll: M653_1399, Page: 188, Image: 19, Family History Library Film: 805399.