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Ole Rasmussen Dahl

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment
Ole Rasmussen Dahl Profile Image
This image is believed to have been taken post-Civil War.
Wisconsin Historical Society, Iconography, ID 89417

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

Ole Rasmussen Dahl

Birth Name

Ole Rasmussen

Lived

19 Jul 1817 – 30 Dec 1882

Birth Place

Bøifod (Bøyfot) Farm, Straumsnes, Tingvold, Møre og Romsdal fylke

Birth Country

Norway

Resident of Muster-In

Bloomer Prairie, Chippewa County, WI

Company at Enlistment

B

2nd Company

H

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

13 Feb 1862

Death Location

Tomah, Monroe County, WI

Burial Location

Chippewa Falls, Chippewa County, WI

Mother

Ane Trondsdatter

Mother Lived

12 Mar 1787-

Father

Rasmus Olsen

Father Lived

6 Nov 1779- 1843

Immigration

1854

Spouse

Bolette Pauline Lied

Spouse Lived

1819- Sep 1860

Married On

24 Oct 1843

Marriage Location

Tingvoll, Norway

Ole Rasmussen Dahl was born in Straumsnes, Møre og Romsdal fylke, Norway on July 19, 1817. He went to sea at age 17 and then went to military school in Trondhjem to study surveying. He came to America in 1854. 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 Rasmussen as living in Bloomer Prairie, Chippewa County, WI, and age 44. He enlisted for three years on October 29, 1861 at Chippewa. He spent several weeks recruiting enlistees for the 15th. On February 13, 1862, he mustered at Madison, WI, as a Private (Menig). He was promoted Quartermaster Sergeant (Sersjant) on July 1, 1862. He transferred from Company B to Regimental Headquarters on August 7, 1862. He was reduced to ranks at his own request on October 7, 1862, and transferred to Company H. Then, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant (Løytnant) of B Company on January 30, 1863, with rank from January 20. He was then commissioned First Lieutenant (Løytnant) in B Company at Murfreesboro, TN on March 15, 1863. He was Quartermaster Officer at Mississippi River Island No. 10. On March 1, 1863, he was a topographic engineer in the 2nd Brigade; moved to 3rd Brigade in May 1863; and then to 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, October 1863. He was taken prisoner near Morristown, TN, on March 1, 1864 and held in Macon, GA. He mustered out on March 12, 1865.

In Nov 1880, he was granted a pension of $17 a month because of general disability as a result of his prison life. He died in Tomah, WI on December 30, 1882 and was buried in Chippewa Falls, WI.

 

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, Archives, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, boxes 76-10, 78-1; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, Archives, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, vol. 20, p. 4, p. 28; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, 1894, Decorah, IA, p. 373; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p. 257; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p. 268 (photo), p. 291, p. 294; Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, Vol I & II, Compiled under direction of the Adjutant General, Madison, WI, 1886 p. 808; Pensioners on the Roll as of January 1, 1883 (living in Wisconsin), 1998, Park Genealogical Books, Roseville, MN; Gards-og ættesoge for Straumsnes, Volume 3, Ottar Roaldset, p. 462.