Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience

by Odd S. Lovoll

This first full-length biography of Colonel Heg examines the life of a Civil War hero while illuminating the experiences of Norwegian American immigrants who found both hardship and success in a new home.

Hans Christian Heg (1829–1863) was a Norwegian American abolitionist, journalist, antislavery activist, prison reformer, politician, and soldier. Best known for leading the Fifteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment on the Union side during the Civil War, Heg died of wounds received at the Battle of Chickamauga in September 1863.

While Heg's achievements earned him a statue on the Wisconsin state capitol grounds, behind his public persona was a life emblematic of his generation. Heg's family hailed from Lier, Norway; economic as well as religious challenges led them, like so many others, to leave their homeland for the promise of a better life. Heg himself trod multiple joining in the California Gold Rush, pursuing a political career in support of the Free Soil Party and then the newly formed Republican Party, and taking up the role of Wisconsin state prison commissioner. Like his fellow immigrants, he made a living and nurtured a family at the same time that he was defining what it meant to be both Norwegian and American.

Heg's remarkable leadership of the Fifteenth Wisconsin, the "Norwegian regiment," is the stuff of legends. But this book is more than a biography of one it is the story of a generation of immigrant citizens who contributed politically, economically, and socially to the American Midwest and beyond.

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 18, 2023

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned more about Norwegian immigration to the USA than I wanted to know. I’d heard about the Irish and German Brigades in the Union Army but not the Norwegian- the 15th Wisconsin.

Hans Christian Heg was born in Norway in 1829 and immigrated as a a youth to Wisconsin. He went off to the California gold fields for two years but returned upon the death of his father to take care of his siblings. He became a farmer and was involved in village and county politics. He ran for state office and was the commissioner of the state prison when the war started. He was immediately nominated to be the CO of the regiment being raised. He was a Free Soiler and ardent abolitionist.

He sounds like another Joshua Chamberlain from Maine. Both men found themselves competent and comfortable as warriors and leaders. Heg was quickly elevated to brigade command and most certainly would have been a general officer. He was struck in the abdomen by a sniper at Chickamauga while rallying his troops at Villiard Field. Highly respected by his men and his superiors. What a tragedy for his family and the nation. You could see he was a man who made things happen and a force for progress and good.

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and written. Learned a lot about Norwegian culture and background of those who came to America.

[Dick Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Norwegian cousin and retired judge living outside of Oslo and I are constantly swapping reading ideas. He has traveled and lectured some in the United States; I am planning for my first Norwegian adventure in June of 2024. His latest recommendation was Colonel Hans Christain Heg and the Norwegian American Experience. I was not disappointed. I knew of Norwegian immigration into this country through my grandparents eyes, arriving through Ellis Island in 1906 literally in search of work. Odd Lovoll, through Colonel Heg's story, introduced a whole new perspective of Norwegian immigration in the early 1800's when opportunity, and an interesting need to escape some repressive homeland religion, motivated Norwegians to immigrate settling in the midwest. They settled. They compromised on their religious practices. And they took an active role as citizens of their newly adopted country. The Norwegian settlers were, by their very ethnic nature, anti-slavery and willingly participated with the Union side of the Civil War. And while the intent of the book is not a thorough Civil War history the facts are well documented and the Norwegian parfticipation, particularly through the Wisconsin 15th are noteworthy. Heg was lost at the Battle of Chickamauga but the memorials, statues, dedicated parks and literature about his life are testimony to the impact he had as an early Norwegian immigrant and a committed United States citizen. This is a good read for Norwegian-American immigrant history buffs, Civil War history buffs, and mid-west history buffs.

[Ian Baaske · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colonel Heg's statue was torn down and vandalized by misguided protestors in 2020. This biography details how he was an abolitionist who died in battle leading a union brigade.