Ole Olson Burke
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| Name at Enlist | Ole Olson Burke |
| Birth Name | |
| Other Names | Ole Bjørke, Bjorke, Björke |
| Lived | ca. 1831 – 11 Jun 1864 |
| Birth Place | Sogn |
| Birth Country | Norway |
| Resident of Muster-In | La Crosse, La Crosse County, WI |
| Company at Enlistment | B |
| Rank at Enlistment | Private |
| Muster Date | 1 Dec 1861 |
| Cause of Death | diarrhea |
| Death Location | Andersonville Prison, Macon County, GA |
| Burial Location | Andersonville National Cemetery, Macon County, GA, grave 1,838 |
Ole Olson Burke was born “Ole Bjørke” in Sogn, Norway. 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 Burke as living in La Crosse, La Crosse County, WI, age 30, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on September 23, 1861 at La Crosse, and mustered on December 1, 1861 at Madison, WI as a Private. He was sick and sent to the general hospital in Jacinto, MS on July 20, 1862. He was sick in Nashville, TN on December 26, 1862. He was taken prisoner at Battle of Chickamauga, GA on December 20, 1863 and died in Andersonville Prison of diarrhea on June 11, 1864. He was buried in grave 1,838.
Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-4; Regimental Muster and Descriptive Rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.28; Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion, Wm. DeLoss Love, 1866, Church and Goodman, Chicago, p.1082; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett, Decorah, IA, 1894, p.379; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, 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; Nordmændene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.272.