In this Book

Minnesota Historical Society Press
summary
A collection of Civil War–era letters written by Hans Christian Heg, who grew up in southeastern Norway, migrated to Wisconsin, and traveled to the gold fields of California and the mining camps of the West, only to return to the Badger State to lead a regiment of Scandinavian immigrants—the Fifteenth Wisconsin—in the Civil War. His achievements are well known among Norwegian-Americans but little known outside that circle. However, his life story typifies the processes of transition and service to his new country that have marked the lives of thousands of immigrants. The many personal accounts by the soldiers of the Fifteenth Wisconsin Regiment, penned in battlefield letters to family and friends, remain the most evocative and moving contributions, valuable primary source material to a wrenching national experience. These intimate narratives relate both the horrors of the conflict and the loyalty of the young men, many of them recent arrivals from Norway, to what they consistently refer to as “our new fatherland.” The Civil War period is a dramatic watershed event in the adjustment of Norwegian-Americans to the challenges they encountered in America as they moved toward integration with a new society. The heroic roles played by the men of the Fifteenth Wisconsin Regiment remain lasting and treasured images in the iconography of the Norwegian-American experience.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. p. 1
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Title Page, Frontispiece, Copyright
  2. pp. 2-5
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Preface
  2. pp. 6-7
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. pp. 8-9
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Illustrations
  2. pp. 10-13
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Colonel Hans Christian Heg: A Biographical Essay
  2. pp. 14-61
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. I. From Madison to Island No. 10
  2. pp. 62-100
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. II. In Camp and on the March
  2. pp. 101-140
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. III. From Iuka to Perryville
  2. pp. 141-165
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. IV. The Battle of Murfreesboro
  2. pp. 166-208
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. V. Camp Life Near Murfreesboro
  2. pp. 209-245
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. V. The Chickamauga Campaign
  2. pp. 246-279
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Index
  2. pp. 280-289
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Back Cover
  2. p. 290
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.