| Hans Christian Heg | |
| [[Image:File:Hansheg.jpg|center|200px|border]]Colonel Hans Christian Heg, 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment | |
| Born: | December 21, 1829 |
|---|---|
| Place of Birth: | {{{place of birth}}} |
| Died: | September 19, 1863 (aged 33) |
| Place of Death: | {{{place of death}}} |
| Nickname: | {{{nickname}}} |
| Birth Name: | {{{birth name}}} |
| Allegiance: | United States of America Union |
| Participation(s): | {{{participations}}} |
| Branch: | United States Army Union Army |
| Service Years: | {{{service years}}} |
| Rank: | Colonel (USA) |
| Service number : | {{{servicenumber}}} |
| Unit: | 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division |
| Commands: | {{{commands}}} |
| Battles: | American Civil War |
| Awards: | {{{awards}}} |
| Relations: | {{{relations}}} |
| Other work: | {{{otherwork}}} |
Hans Christian Heg (December 21, 1829 – September 19, 1863) was a Norwegian immigrant to the United States of America who served as a colonel and brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[1]
Background[]
Heg was born at Haugestad in the community of Lierbyen in Lier, Buskerud, Norway on December 21, 1829. He was the eldest of the four children of an inn keeper. His father, Even Hansen Heg, moved his family to America in 1840, settling in the Muskego Settlement in Wisconsin. Hans Heg was eleven years old when his family arrived in Muskego. He soon earned a reputation for himself and being a wide awake and gifted boy. At twenty years old, lured by the discovery of gold in the Sacramento Valley, with three friends, he joined the army of "forty niners" and spent the next two years prospecting for gold in California. In 1851, upon the death of his father he returned to the Muskego area. He married Gunhild Einong, daughter of a Norwegian immigrant. He was rapidly becoming a rising young politician who found slavery abhorrent. He naturally became an ardent member of the Free Soil Party [2] Heg was a major in the 4th Wisconsin Militia and served as the Wisconsin State Prison Commissioner (the first official elected to a Wisconsin state-wide office to have been Norwegian born). A member of the recently formed Republican Party, he was an outspoken anti-slavery activist and a leader of Wisconsin's 'Wide Awakes,' an anti-slavecatcher militia.[3][4]
Military service[]
With the outbreak of the Civil War, Heg was appointed by Wisconsin Governor Alexander Randall as colonel of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment. Appealing to all young Norseman he said, "the government of our adopted country is in danger. It is our duty as brave and intelligent citizens to extend our hands in defense of the cause of our Country and of our homes."[5] The 15th Wisconsin was called the Scandinavian Regiment since its soldiers were almost all immigrants from Norway, with some from Denmark and Sweden. It was the only all Scandinavian regiment in the Union Army. On October 8, 1862, Colonel Heg led his regiment into its first action at the Battle of Perryville. Despite being under fire while being driven back several miles by the enemy, the 15th Wisconsin suffered few casualties and no fatalities. However, one of those hurt was Colonel Heg, who was injured when his horse fell.
Heg commanded the regiment during the Battle of Stones River. In response to his conduct at Stones River, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans placed Colonel Heg in command of the newly formed 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division, XX Corps, Army of the Cumberland, on May 1, 1863.
On September 19, 1863, Colonel Heg led his brigade at the Battle of Chickamauga, where he was mortally wounded. Brave Col. Heg, commanding a brigade, "was shot through the bowels and died the next day." [6] Upon hearing of Heg's death, Rosecrans expressed regret, saying he had intended to promote Heg to brigadier general. As it was, Colonel Heg was the highest-ranked Wisconsin soldier killed in combat during the Civil War.
Heg was buried at the Norway Lutheran Church Cemetery near Wind Lake, Wisconsin.[7]
Legacy[]
Statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, Wisconsin State Capitol - Madison, WI
- There is a statue of Hans Christian Heg at the King Street approach to the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin
- There is a statue of Hans Christian Heg in the town of Wind Lake, Wisconsin [8] as well as in Madison, Wisconsin.
- A replica of these statues stands in Heg's birthplace at Haugestad in the community of Lierbyen in Lier, Norway. It was a gift by Norwegian-Americans to the people of Norway. The unveiling of this statue took place on St. Hans Day, June 25, 1925.[9]
- Heg Memorial Park in Racine County is named in his honor.[10]
- Heg Memorial Park Museum, containing Heg memorabilia, is located on Heg Park Road in Wind Lake, Wisconsin
- His original homestead house is located a short distance from the Heg Memorial Park.
- Another house formerly owned by Hans Christian Heg was located at the current site of the Waterford, Wisconsin, Public Library.
- There is a memorial to Hans Christian Heg at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.[11]
References[]
- ↑ Borgerkrigen i De Forente Stater i Nord-Amerika (by Joh A. Enander. La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1881)The Promise of America
- ↑ Civil War Letters of Colonel H.C. Heg, Theodrore C. Blegen, editor.
- ↑ Birth Records for the Parish of Lier (Den Norske kirke. Ministerialbok Nummer 10. Fylke: Buskerud. Prestegjeld: Lier/Frogner) [1]
- ↑ A Veteran For All Time. Abolitionist Col. Heg Died At Chickamauga Capital Times, November 11, 1997. Mike Miller The Capital Times.Madison.Com
- ↑ Historic Heg Memorial Park, Racine County, Wisconsin 1940.
- ↑ "Wisconsin in the Civil War" Frank Clement, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1997.
- ↑ Colbo, Ella Stratton. The life story of Colonel Hans Christian Heg, Historic Heg Memorial Park, Racine County, Wisconsin, 1975; Norwegian soldiers on Civil War battlefields, News of Norway, issue 4, 1999.
- ↑ Heg Memorial Park in Racine County, Wisconsin (Statues of Historic Figures) http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2BK9
- ↑ "Heg Memorial Park in Racine County, Wisconsin" ,
- ↑ Colbo, Ella Stratton Historic Heg Memorial Park: photographic views and brief historical sketches of the outstanding points of interest in and about Heg Memorial Park, Racine County, Wisconsin (Racine, Wisconsin: Racine County Historical Society, 1975) http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=header&id=WI.WPLHeg
- ↑ Battlefield Wanderings; Wisconsin's Civil War Memorials, sculptor Paul Fjelde.
Further reading[]
- Heg, Hans Christian, The Civil War Letters Of Colonel Hans Christian Heg (Theodore C. Blegen, editor. Norwegian-American Historical Association. 1936)
- Ager, Waldemar, Colonel Heg and His Boys: A Norwegian Regiment in the American Civil War (translated by Della Kittleson Catuna and Clarence A. Clausen Oberst Heg og Hans Gutter. Norwegian-American Historical Association. December 2000)
- Naeseth, Gerhard B, Norwegian Immigrants to the United States: A Biographical Directory. Vol. 1: 1825-1843. (Amundsen Publishing Company, Decorah, Iowa: 1993)
- Historic Heg Memorial Park (Ella Stratton Colbo, editor. Heg County Memorial Committee. 1949)
- Buslett, Ole Amundsen Det Femtende Regiment Wisconsin Frivillige (Decorah, Iowa, 1894) Norwegian
External links[]
- Wisconsin Historical Society
- Norwegian American Hall of Fame
- Historic Madison
- Wisconsin Trails
- Abolition Activism in Wisconsin
- 15th Wisconsin Regiment
- Col. Hans C. Heg and the 15th Wisconsin at Chickamauga, 1863
- Waterford Historical Project. "Col. Hans C. Heg and the 15th Wisconsin at Chickamauga, 1863", by Carl L. Boeckmann
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