Civil War Soldiers Record Database

Nels J. Johnson joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company D. The men of the company called themselves the “Norway Wolf Hunters.” They were also known as the “Waupun Company” because so many of its members were from Waupun. The army listed him as living in Oconomowoc, Waukesha County, WI, age 23, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 25, 1861 at Oconomowoc, and mustered at Madison, WI on December 10, 1861. Johnson was designated Corporal (Korporal) on January 1, 1862, and promoted to Sergeant (Sersjant) on December 1, 1862. He was assigned to military police duty with the Brigade on 19th and 20th of June 1863. He was wounded at Chickamauga, GA on September 19, 1863, and sent to Nashville, TN. Johnson was absent from Company D on recruiting duty November 21 and 28, 1863. He was postcommander at Strawberry Plains in March 1864 and then was acting Sergeant Major at Whiteside, TN. He transferred on November 20, 1864 to the Regimental Staff at Whiteside and promoted to Sergeant Major, effective from October 15, 1864. He is entered on the Roll of Honor of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps. After the war, he lived in Austin, MN.

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, boxes 76-6, 78-1,3; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.4,56; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillage [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1895), p.448; Oberst Heg og hans Gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Publ. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.277, photo, p.290, p.301; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.260, 298.