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Martin Jorgenson

15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry
The Scandinavian Regiment
Martin  Jorgenson Profile Image
Wisconsin Historical Society, Iconography, ID 88831

Database Record Change Request

Name at Enlist

Martin Jorgenson

Birth Name
Lived

10 Oct 1829 –

Birth Place

Frostestad, near Mandal

Birth Country

Norway

Resident of Muster-In

Chicago, Cook County, IL

Company at Enlistment

A

Rank at Enlistment

Private

Muster Date

15 Nov 1861

Immigration

Jun 1861

Spouse

Laura Gustava Halberg

Married On

1868

Martin Jorgenson was born at Frostestad, near Mandal, Norway on October 10, 1829. He came to America in June 1861. He joined the WI 15th Infantry, Company A. The men of the company called themselves the “St. Olaf’s Rifles.” They were also known as the “Sailor Company” because of the large number of seamen in its ranks, and as the “Chicago Company” because so many of its members were residents of that city. The army listed him as living in Chicago, IL, age 32, and unmarried. He enlisted for three years on October 28, 1861 at Chicago, and mustered on November 15, 1861 at Madison, WI as a Private (Menig).

Jorgenson was left sick at Mississippi River Island No. 10 on June 11, 1862. He was seriously wounded in the Battle of Stones River on December 31, 1862 due to a musket ball shattering a bone in his left arm. He was sent to a hospital in Nashville, and then to the Navy hospital in Chicago. He was transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps on January 15, 1864. He mustered out on December 20, 1864.

After the war, he lived in Willmar, MN. He was married in 1868 to Laura Gustava Halberg, a native of Christiania, Norway. They had six children. Jorgenson was granted a pension of $6 a month because of the gun shot wound to his left arm.

 

Sources: Series 1200: Records of Civil War Regiments, 1861-1900, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, box 76-3; Regimental muster and descriptive rolls, 1861-1865, Wisconsin Adjutant General’s Office, vol.20, p.18; Det Femtende Regiment, Wisconsin Frivillige [The Fifteenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers], Ole A. Buslett (Decorah, Iowa, 1894), p.358; Oberst Heg og hans gutter, Waldemar Ager, 1916, Fremad Pub. Co., Eau Claire, WI, p.193, photo, p.292; Nordmaendene i Amerika, Martin Ulvestad, 1907, History Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, p.300;  The Military History of Wisconsin in the War for the Union, Edwin B. Quiner, 1866, Clarke & Co., Chicago, p.621; Pensioners on the Rolls as of January 1, 1883, living in Minnesota, publ. 1994, Park Genealogical Books, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota; Obituary published in Willmar, Minnesota, 16 Feb 1921; copy at Norwegian American Genealogical Center, Madison, WI; 1890 Veterans Schedule, Roll: 23, Page: 1, Enumeration District: 82.