Hans
Christian Heg was born in Lier, Norway,
on 21st December, 1829. His family emigrated to America when he was
eleven years old. Heg settled in Waterford, Wisconsin and in 1851
married Gunild Einong.
Heg was
a Major in the 4th Wisconsin Militia and became the first Norwegian
to be elected to state office when he became State Prison Commissioner
of Wisconsin.
On the outbreak of the Civil War Heg
joined the Union Army and was given the
rank of Colonel and was heavily involved in recruiting the 15th Wisconsin,
the Scandinavian Regiment.
Heg led the regiment during the successful raid on Union City, Tennessee.
After an extensive campaign in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama,
Heg took part in the battle at Perryville
(8th October, 1862). He was injured when his horse fell and was sent
back to Wisconsin to recover.
Back on duty he led the capture of a Confederate artillery battery
at Knob Gap, Tennessee (15th December, 1862). He then commanded the
Scandinavian Regiment during the battle of Murfreesboro
(Stones River). Despite suffering serious losses his brigade commander
reported: "Colonels Alexander and Heg, in my opinion, proved
themselves the bravest of the brave. Had such men as these been in
command of some of our brigades, we should have been spared the shame
of witnessing the rout of our troops and the disgraceful panic, encouraged,
at least, by the example and advice of officers high in command."
In May, 1863, Heg was placed in command of the newly formed 3rd Brigade
of the 1st Division, 20th Army Corps. On 29th August he led an early
morning assault across the Tennessee River. The 3rd Brigade crossed
over without a single casualty, therefore becoming the first Union
troops south of the river.
Heg, about to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, led his
men at Chickamauga in Georgia (19th
September, 1863). Around 5 o'clock, just before the fighting finished,
Heg was shot in the abdomen. Heg was taken to the Field Hospital at
Crawfish Springs, but died the following day. Hans Christian Heg,
the highest ranking officer in the Union Army in Wisconsin to be killed,
is buried in the Norway Lutheran Church Cemetery in Racine County.
(1)
Official citation after the battle at Murfreesboro
(1862)
I deem it my duty to call the special attention of the general
commanding the Fourteenth Army Corps to Col. John W. S. Alexander,
Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, and Col. Hans C. Heg, Fifteenth
Wisconsin Volunteers. While every field officer under my command did
his duty faithfully, Colonels Alexander and Heg, in my opinion, proved
themselves the bravest of the brave. Had such men as these been in
command of some of our brigades, we should have been spared the shame
of witnessing the rout of our troops and the disgraceful panic, encouraged,
at least, by the example and advice of officers high in command.
(2)
Ole Steensland, description of the
battle at Murfreesboro
(1863)
Then came the gloomy morning of the 20th when the few of us that
were left formed into line of battle. We had orders not to retreat
in face of the fact that four strong columns of rebels were charging
our weak and scattered line. These were nerve straining moments when
boyhood chums were dropping dead or wounded all around me. Ole Milestone
[Milesten] was killed on my right, Chris [Christian] Thompson on my
left. I got a bullet through my hat and that did no harm, but I was
taken prisoner, and that was something that did hurt.
(3)
Stephen O. Himoe, the surgeon who treated Hans Heg at the battle
at Murfreesboro, later commented
on what had happened.
Friends who called to see him, wept like children. Everybody who
knew him loved him. He was not only a noble patriot, but a true Christian
and died peacefully and calmly, fully persuaded of a glorious immortality
through Jesus.
(4)
General William Rosecrans on the
death of Colonel Hans Heg (September, 1863)
His bravery, demonstrated in many engagements, is unquestioned.
It is not however, the reckless daring of an unskilled and careless
man, but the cool and determined valor of a competent, thoughtful
commander. He is prudent, but not timid; deliberate, but not slow
in movement. In person he is of medium size, rather slender, and with
features more than ordinarily prepossessing. With the courage he has
power of endurance so natural to the Scandinavian, and well calculated
to share the hardships and privations of a march as he directs the
movements of his command.
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