Hans Christian Heg Explained

Hans Christian Heg
Order:6th
Prison Commissioner of Wisconsin
Governor:Alexander Randall
Term Start:January 2, 1860
Term End:January 6, 1862
Predecessor:Edward M. McGraw
Successor:Alexander P. Hodges
Party:Republican
Birth Date:21 December 1829
Birth Place:Lier, Norway
Death Place:Chickamauga, Georgia, U.S.
Restingplace:Norway Cemetery,
Allegiance:United States
Branch:United States Volunteers
Union Army
Serviceyears:1861–1863
Rank:Colonel, USV
Unit:15th Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
3rd Bde, 1st Div, XX Corps
Battles:American Civil War

Hans Christian Heg (December 21, 1829September 20, 1863) was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, anti-slavery activist, politician and soldier, best known for leading the Scandinavian 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment on the Union side in the American Civil War. He died of the wounds he received at the Battle of Chickamauga.[1]

Early life, immigration, and education

Heg was born at Haugestad in the community of Lierbyen in Lier, Buskerud, Norway on December 21, 1829. He was the eldest of the four children of the innkeeper Even Hansen Heg (1790–1850) and his wife Sigrid "Siri" Olsdatter Kallerud Heg (1799–1842).[2] The family moved to America in 1840, settling in the Muskego Settlement in Wisconsin.[3] [4] Hans Heg was eleven years old when his family arrived in Muskego. He soon earned a reputation for himself as being a gifted boy.[5]

Career

At twenty years old, lured by the discovery of gold in the Sacramento Valley, he and three friends joined the army of "Forty-Niners". He spent the next two years prospecting for gold in California.[3] [4] Upon the death of his father, he returned to the Muskego area in 1851.[3] [4] He married Gunhild Einong (1833–1922), daughter of a Norwegian immigrant.[4]

Heg was a major in the 4th Wisconsin Militia, and became a rising young politician who found slavery abhorrent.[6] [7] He was an outspoken anti-slavery activist and a leader of Wisconsin's Wide Awakes, an anti-slave catcher militia.[8] [9] He became an ardent member of the Free Soil Party,[10] and soon joined the recently formed Republican Party. In 1859, Heg was elected commissioner of the state prison in Waupun, and served there for two years. He was the first Norwegian-born candidate elected statewide in Wisconsin. Heg spearheaded many reforms to the prison, believing that prisons should be used to "reclaim the wandering and save the lost".[11] On August 1, 1860, at great risk to his career, he provided shelter to Sherman Booth, a man who was made a federal fugitive after inciting a mob to rescue an escaped slave.[12]

Military service

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Heg was appointed by Governor Alexander Randall as colonel of the 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. Appealing to all young "Norsemen," he said, "the government of our adopted country is in danger. It is our duty as brave and intelligent citizens to extend our hands in defense of the cause of our Country and of our homes."[13] The 15th Wisconsin was called the Scandinavian Regiment because its soldiers were almost all immigrants from Norway, with some from Denmark and Sweden. It was the only all-Scandinavian regiment in the Union Army. On 8 October 1862, Colonel Heg led his regiment into its first action at the Battle of Perryville. Despite being under fire while being driven back several miles by the enemy, the 15th Wisconsin suffered few casualties and no fatalities. However, one of those hurt was Colonel Heg, who was injured when his horse fell.

Heg commanded the regiment during the Battle of Stones River. In response to his conduct at Stones River, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans placed Heg in command of the newly formed 3rd Brigade of the 1st Division, XX Corps, Army of the Cumberland, on May 1, 1863. Heg fought in the Tullahoma campaign of June–July 1863.[14]

On September 18, 1863, Heg led his brigade at the Battle of Chickamauga, where was mortally wounded. On the evening of September 19, the first day of the battle, he was shot in the abdomen by a Confederate sharpshooter. He rallied his troops, but eventually had to give over his command.[4] He was taken to a field hospital at Crawfish Spring, where he died on the morning of September 20.[15] A surgeon who witnessed his passing recalled that "it was agonizing to stand beside the colonel and see him suffer and die. Colonel La Grange of the First Wisconsin Cavalry and other friends who called to see him wept like children. Everybody who knew him loved him." Upon hearing of his death, Rosecrans expressed regret, saying "I am very sorry to hear that Heg has fallen. He was a brave officer, and I intended to promote him to be general."[16] Heg was one of five Wisconsinite colonels killed as a result of combat during the Civil War.[17] "Colonel Hans C. Heg was Acting Brigadier General of the Third Brigade, Davis' Division, and therefore the highest ranking officer from Wisconsin killed in the Civil War."[18]

Heg was buried at the Norway Lutheran Church Cemetery near Wind Lake, Wisconsin.[19] [20]

Vandalizing of Heg's statue in Madison, Wisconsin

A statue of Hans Christian Heg by Paul Fjelde was installed at the King Street approach to the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin in 1925.[21] On June 23, 2020, rioters incensed by the arrest of a member of Black Lives Matter used a towing vehicle to pull the statue down. It was then vandalized, decapitated and thrown into Lake Monona. The words "" were spray-painted on the plinth, just above Heg's name. Forward, a statue designed by Jean Pond Miner Coburn to represent the state of Wisconsin, was also pulled down.[22] [23] Both statues were later recovered by the authorities,[24] though Heg's was said to have lost a leg.[25]

On July 20, 2020, the Wisconsin Capitol and Executive Residence Board voted unanimously to restore both Heg's statue and Forward to their original condition and placement atop their pedestals.[26] Since his statue's head was still missing,[27] state officials planned to create a new one using a statue of Heg in the town of Norway as a model.[28] [29] The state of Wisconsin received a grant of $30,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities the following October towards the expense of repairing of both the Heg and Forward statues. The statues were taken to Detroit where Venus Bronze Works Inc. worked to restore them, with reinstallation on the Capitol grounds then anticipated by July 2021.[30] [31] By mid-September 2021, Heg's statue was "nearly ready to be shipped to Wisconsin".[32]

On September 21, 2021, the statue was reinstated.[33]

Legacy

Electoral history

Wisconsin Prison Commissioner (1859)

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 8, 1859

See also

Further reading

External links

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Notes and References

  1. http://www.nb.no/emigrasjon/vis_data_bilde.php?lang=eng&dok_id=30791&nss=no-nb_emidata_E2001 Borgerkrigen i De Forente Stater i Nord-Amerika
  2. Book: Lier kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0010: Ministerialbok no. I 10, 1827–1843 . 1843 . Lier . 23 . July 21, 2020.
  3. News: Col. Hans Christian Heg . Wood County Reporter . October 8, 1863 . 2 . . June 24, 2020.
  4. News: Who Was This Man, Hans Christian Heg? . The Capital Times . November 10, 1952 . 19 . . June 25, 2020.
  5. http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=1374&keyword=First Even Hansen Heg
  6. News: Col. Heg Fell at Chickamauga . Wisconsin State Journal . June 26, 1976 . 37 . . June 25, 2020.
  7. News: Williams . Harry . The Civil War Letters of Colonel Hans Christian Heg. Edited by Theodore G. Blegen. . Book review . The Capital Times . June 7, 1936 . 18 . . June 25, 2020.
  8. http://www.arkivverket.no/URN:kb_read?show=27&uid=121361&urnread_imagesize=gigant&hode=nei&ls=1 Birth Records for the Parish of Lier
  9. Mike Miller, "A Veteran For All Time. Abolitionist Col. Heg Died At Chickamauga" Capital Times, November 11, 1997.
  10. Blegen, Theodrore C., editor. Civil War Letters of Colonel H. C. Heg
  11. Images of America: Waupun. Gunnink, Carla J. and the Waupun Historical Society, 2014.
  12. Butler. Diane S.. The Public Life and Private Affairs of Sherman M. Booth. Wisconsin Magazine of History. Spring 1999. 190–192.
  13. Historic Heg Memorial Park, Racine County, Wisconsin. 1940
  14. Book: Hunt, Roger D. . Colonels in Blue - Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin: A Civil War Biographical Dictionary . 2019 . McFarland . 9781476626352 . 245.
  15. Frank L. Klement, Wisconsin in the Civil War: The Home Front and the Battle Front, 1861-1865. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1997.
  16. Book: Cozzens, Peter . This Terrible Sound: THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA . University of Illinois Press; Illustrated edition . 1992 . 0252065948 . 289–290.
  17. Book: Wisconsin Losses in the Civil War : A list of names of Wisconsin soldiers killed in action, mortally wounded or dying from other causes in the Civil War. Arranged according to organization and also in a separate alphabetical list. State of Wisconsin. 1915. Estabrook. Charles E.. Madison. 7, 70, 75, 91, 173, 221. -- A total of six Wisconsinite Colonels died in the service of the state of Wisconsin during the Civil War. Four were Killed in Action, one (Heg) Died of Wounds resulting from actions in combat, and one Died of Disease. Disease is not traditionally considered to be the result of enemy action, so the official count is five combat losses rather than six..
  18. Book: Colbo, Ella Stratton. Historic Heg Memorial Park: photographic views and brief historical sketches of the outstanding points of interest in and about Heg Memorial Park, Racine County, Wisconsin. Racine County Historical Society. 1975. University of Wisconsin-Madison Library, The State of Wisconsin Collection. 35.
  19. Colbo, Ella Stratton. The life story of Colonel Hans Christian Heg. Historic Heg Memorial Park, Racine County, Wisconsin, 1975.
  20. "Norwegian soldiers on Civil War battlefields" News of Norway, issue 4, 1999
  21. News: Photos: So who was Hans Christian Heg? Here's why the Civil War hero had a statue . . June 25, 2020 . June 1, 2022 . en.
  22. Web site: Langrehr . Jaymes . Protesters explain why they tore down statues at State Capitol . www.channel3000.com . June 24, 2020 . Channel 3000 . June 24, 2020.
  23. News: Beck . Molly . Madison protesters tear down Capitol statues, attack state Senator from Milwaukee . . June 24, 2020.
  24. 1275773066879152129 . Evers . Governor Tony . GovEvers . We are assessing the damage to state property, including the State Capitol building, the surrounding area, and the Tommy G. Thompson Center. Both "Forward" and Col. Hans Christian Heg statues have been recovered. . June 1, 2022 .
  25. News: Pavia. Will. June 25, 2020. Statue of Colonel Hans Christian Heg, who helped defeat slavery, is toppled. The Times . June 29, 2020.
  26. News: Richmond. Todd. July 20, 2020. Board OKs restoring Capitol statues, launching money drive. Associated Press, The Star Tribune. 20 July 2020. July 20, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200720205005/https://www.startribune.com/board-oks-restoring-capitol-statues-launching-money-drive/571837151/. dead.
  27. News: Richmond. Todd. July 20, 2020. Wisconsin Capitol board agrees to restore 2 statues toppled by protesters. Associated Press, The Twin Cities Pioneer Press. 20 July 2020.
  28. News: Beck. Molly. July 21, 2020. State officials can't find Col. Hans Christian Heg's head, will make him a new one. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. July 21, 2020.
  29. https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-capitol-protester-sentenced-statue-edd5bd0694903731dc0eb4b3a3fa7201 Protester involved in pulling down abolitionist's statue in Wisconsin gets 6 months in jail
  30. Web site: Jones. Meg. Beck. Molly. October 16, 2020. Wisconsin gets federal funds to help restore vandalized Capitol statues Forward and Hans Christian Heg The National Endowment for the Humanities. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111211928/https://www.neh.gov/news/wisconsin-gets-federal-funds-help-restore-vandalized-capitol-statues-forward-and-hans. November 11, 2020. November 11, 2020. The National Endowment for the Humanities.
  31. Web site: Glauber. Bill. December 10, 2020. Crew works to restore toppled statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg by next summer. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. December 11, 2020.
  32. Web site: Brogan. Dylan. September 16, 2021. Your history. September 19, 2021. .
  33. Web site: 2021-09-21 . Workers reinstall Wisconsin statues downed in 2020 protest . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211001180501/https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-wisconsin-health-race-and-ethnicity-madison-bd08ce196035066aec2be0abd5f63389 . October 1, 2021 . 2021-10-01 . AP NEWS . en.
  34. http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM2BK9 Heg Memorial Park in Racine County, Wisconsin
  35. News: June 25, 1925. Avsløringen av oberst Hegg [sic] -monumentet i Lier]. 7. Haugesunds Dagblad. 144. June 25, 2020.
  36. Colbo, Ella Stratton. Historic Heg Memorial Park. Racine, Wis.: Racine County Historical Society, 1975.
  37. Web site: T he Museum at Heg State Memorial Park . library.wisc.edu. March 25, 2016.
  38. http://shilohnick.blogspot.com/2008/12/hans-christian-heg.html Hans Christian Heg
  39. http://www.suvcw-wi.org/memorials/norway_twp_heg.html Wisconsin's Civil War Memorials
  40. Web site: Hanson. Jill K.. Blythe. Robert W.. June 1, 2002. Chickamauga And Chattanooga National Military Park Historic Resource Study. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190612063935/https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/chch/hrs/hrs.htm. June 12, 2019. November 11, 2020. National Park Service. Appendix C, p. 9.
  41. Web site: Benington. Dale K.. October 19, 2020. Hans C. Heg Memorial Shell Monument Historical Marker. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20201018231602/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=102047. October 18, 2020. November 12, 2020. The Historical Marker Database.
  42. Web site: Hans Heg - Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service). live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170327122016/http://home.nps.gov/chch/learn/historyculture/hans-heg.htm. March 27, 2017. November 11, 2020. National Park Service.
  43. Book: Williams, Greg H.. The Liberty Ships of World War II A Record of the 2,710 Vessels and Their Builders, Operators and Namesakes, with a History of the Jeremiah O'Brien. McFarland, Incorporated. 2014. 9781476617541. 204–205.
  44. Web site: Gerhardt. Frank A.. 15 September 2014. United States Maritime Commission 1936 thru 1950. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200628002903/http://usmaritimecommission.de/pictures.php?code=B2751a. 28 Jun 2020. 28 Jun 2020.
  45. Web site: October 13, 2010. Kaiser Permanente No. 2, Richmond CA. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200216094412/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/kperm2.htm. 16 Feb 2020. 27 Jun 2020. Shipbuilding History: Construction records of U.S. and Canadian shipbuilders and boatbuilders.
  46. Web site: Andrea. Lawrence. Congressman proposes naming Wisconsin post office after abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, whose Madison statue was destroyed. 2022-01-27. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. en-US.
  47. Web site: Steil. Bryan. 2020-06-25. Cosponsors - H.R.7329 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at S74w16860 Janesville Road, in Muskego, Wisconsin, as the "Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office".. 2022-01-27. www.congress.gov.
  48. Web site: 1 February 2024 . H.R.7199 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at S74w16860 Janesville Road, in Muskego, Wisconsin, as the "Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office". . 19 February 2024 . Congress.gov, Library of Congress.
  49. Web site: H.R.7199 - To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at S74w16860 Janesville Road, in Muskego, Wisconsin, as the "Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office". 118th Congress (2023-2024) . 28 June 2024 . Website of U.S. Congress.

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