Hans Christian Heg

Hans Christian Heg
6th Prison Commissioner of Wisconsin
In office
January 2, 1860 – January 6, 1862
GovernorAlexander Randall
Preceded byEdward M. McGraw
Succeeded byAlexander P. Hodges
Personal details
Born(1829-12-21)December 21, 1829
Lier, Norway
DiedSeptember 20, 1863(1863-09-20) (aged 33)
Chickamauga, Georgia, U.S.
Resting placeNorway Cemetery, Norway, Wisconsin
Political partyRepublican
Signature
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1861–1863
RankColonel, USV
Unit15th Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry
3rd Bde, 1st Div, XX Corps
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Hans Christian Heg (December 21, 1829 – September 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

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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

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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.[3] He was the first Norwegian-born candidate elected statewide in Wisconsin.[4] 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

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Colonel Hans Christian Heg. Painting by Herbjørn Gausta (1854-1924) in 1915

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

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Main article: Statue of Hans Christian Heg § Vandalism

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 "black is beautiful" 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

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Statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison. During riots in June 2020, the statue was pulled down, decapitated, and thrown into Lake Monona.
  • A statue of Hans Christian Heg is located in Norway, Wisconsin.[34]
  • A replica statue stands in Heg's birthplace at Haugestad in the community of Lierbyen in Lier, Norway. It was a gift by Norwegian-Americans to the people of Norway. The unveiling of this statue took place on Midsummer Day, June 24, 1925.[35]
  • Heg Memorial Park in Racine County is named in his honor.[36] Heg Memorial Park Museum is located on Heg Park Road in Wind Lake, Wisconsin.[37] His original homestead house is located a short distance from the Heg Memorial Park.
  • Another house formerly owned by Hans Christian Heg was located at the current site of the Waterford, Wisconsin, Public Library.
  • The Hans C. Heg Shell Monument at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park was dedicated in 1893.[38][39][40] Located at 34°54.232′N 85°15.73′W / 34.903867°N 85.26217°W / 34.903867; -85.26217[41] it is a "triangular pyramid monument of eight inch shells, ten feet in height, [which] marks the spot where Colonel Heg was mortally wounded (seven more of these pyramids can be located throughout Chickamauga Battlefield). The monument can be found in Viniard Field beside the LaFayette Road at Tour Stop #5."[42]
  • The Liberty Ship SS Hans Heg (hull number 2751) was laid down on 26 January 1944 at Kaiser Permanente No. 2 shipyard in Richmond CA[43] under the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. The ship launched on 14 February 1944, was owned by the U.S. Department of Commerce and operated by James Griffiths & Sons Inc. The ship sailed overseas including to Dutch New Guinea in and during the Second World War.[44] She was scrapped in 1961.[45]
  • On June 25, 2020, in response to the vandalism, Representative Bryan Steil introduced a bill to rename a post office in Muskego, Wisconsin the "Colonel Hans Christian Heg Post Office."[46][47] Passage of this bill failed, however Representative Scott Fitzgerald introduced a similar bill on 1 February, 2024. As of 19 February the bill had been referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability[48] but the House did not pass it. Rep. Fitzgerald eventually introduced 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" for the legislative year of the 118th Congress, and this successfully measure passed in the House on 4 June 2024.[49] It currently requires Senate approval before it can become law.

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Prison Commissioner (1859)

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Wisconsin Prison Commissioner Election, 1859[50]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 1859
Republican Hans C. Heg 59,609 53.09% +2.77%
Democratic H. C. Fleck 52,673 46.91%
Plurality 6,936 6.18% +5.54%
Total votes 112,282 100.0% +27.24%
Republican hold

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Borgerkrigen i De Forente Stater i Nord-Amerika (by Joh A. Enander. La Crosse, Wisconsin, 1881. The Promise of America)
  2. ^ Lier kirkebøker, F/Fa/L0010: Ministerialbok no. I 10, 1827–1843. Lier. 1843. p. 23. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Col. Hans Christian Heg". Wood County Reporter. October 8, 1863. p. 2. Retrieved June 24, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Who Was This Man, Hans Christian Heg?". The Capital Times. November 10, 1952. p. 19. Retrieved June 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Even Hansen Heg Archived June 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (Dictionary of Wisconsin History)
  6. ^ "Col. Heg Fell at Chickamauga". Wisconsin State Journal. June 26, 1976. p. 37. Retrieved June 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ Williams, Harry (June 7, 1936). "The Civil War Letters of Colonel Hans Christian Heg. Edited by Theodore G. Blegen". The Capital Times (Book review). p. 18. Retrieved June 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  8. ^ Birth Records for the Parish of Lier (Den Norske kirke. Ministerialbok Nummer 10. Fylke: Buskerud. Prestegjeld: Lier/Frogner)
  9. ^ Mike Miller, "A Veteran For All Time. Abolitionist Col. Heg Died At Chickamauga[permanent dead link]" 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. ^ Hunt, Roger D. (2019). Colonels in Blue - Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin: A Civil War Biographical Dictionary. McFarland. p. 245. ISBN 9781476626352.
  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. ^ Cozzens, Peter (1992). This Terrible Sound: THE BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. University of Illinois Press; Illustrated edition. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0252065948.
  17. ^ Estabrook, Charles E., ed. (1915). 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. Madison: State of Wisconsin. pp. 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  18. ^ Colbo, Ella Stratton (1975). 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. University of Wisconsin-Madison Library, The State of Wisconsin Collection: Racine County Historical Society. p. 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. ^ "Photos: So who was Hans Christian Heg? Here's why the Civil War hero had a statue". La Crosse Tribune. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
  22. ^ Langrehr, Jaymes (June 24, 2020). "Protesters explain why they tore down statues at State Capitol". www.channel3000.com. Channel 3000. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  23. ^ Beck, Molly. "Madison protesters tear down Capitol statues, attack state Senator from Milwaukee". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  24. ^ Evers, Governor Tony [@GovEvers] (June 24, 2020). "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" (Tweet). Retrieved June 1, 2022 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Pavia, Will (June 25, 2020). "Statue of Colonel Hans Christian Heg, who helped defeat slavery, is toppled". The Times. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  26. ^ Richmond, Todd (July 20, 2020). "Board OKs restoring Capitol statues, launching money drive". Associated Press, The Star Tribune. Archived from the original on July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  27. ^ Richmond, Todd (July 20, 2020). "Wisconsin Capitol board agrees to restore 2 statues toppled by protesters". Associated Press, The Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  28. ^ 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. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  29. ^ Protester involved in pulling down abolitionist's statue in Wisconsin gets 6 months in jail
  30. ^ 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". The National Endowment for the Humanities. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  31. ^ Glauber, Bill (December 10, 2020). "Crew works to restore toppled statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg by next summer". The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  32. ^ Brogan, Dylan (September 16, 2021). "Your history". Isthmus. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  33. ^ "Workers reinstall Wisconsin statues downed in 2020 protest". AP NEWS. September 21, 2021. Archived from the original on October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  34. ^ Heg Memorial Park in Racine County, Wisconsin (Statues of Historic Figures)
  35. ^ "Avsløringen av oberst Hegg [sic] -monumentet i Lier". Haugesunds Dagblad. No. 144. June 25, 1925. p. 7. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  36. ^ Colbo, Ella Stratton. Historic Heg Memorial Park. Racine, Wis.: Racine County Historical Society, 1975.
  37. ^ "T he Museum at Heg State Memorial Park" (PDF). library.wisc.edu. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  38. ^ Hans Christian Heg Battlefield Wanderings, December 5, 2008
  39. ^ Wisconsin's Civil War Memorials, sculptor Paul Fjelde
  40. ^ Hanson, Jill K.; Blythe, Robert W. (June 1, 2002). "Chickamauga And Chattanooga National Military Park Historic Resource Study". National Park Service. Appendix C, p. 9. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  41. ^ Benington, Dale K. (October 19, 2020). "Hans C. Heg Memorial Shell Monument Historical Marker". The Historical Marker Database. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  42. ^ "Hans Heg - Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  43. ^ Williams, Greg H. (2014). 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. pp. 204–205. ISBN 9781476617541.
  44. ^ Gerhardt, Frank A. (September 15, 2014). "United States Maritime Commission 1936 thru 1950". Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  45. ^ "Kaiser Permanente No. 2, Richmond CA". Shipbuilding History: Construction records of U.S. and Canadian shipbuilders and boatbuilders. October 13, 2010. Archived from the original on February 16, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  46. ^ Andrea, Lawrence. "Congressman proposes naming Wisconsin post office after abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, whose Madison statue was destroyed". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  47. ^ Steil, Bryan (June 25, 2020). "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"". www.congress.gov. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
  48. ^ "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"". Congress.gov, Library of Congress. February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2024.
  49. ^ "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)". Website of U.S. Congress. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  50. ^ "The Result of the State Canvass". Wisconsin State Journal. December 3, 1859. p. 1. Retrieved June 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

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  • Ager, Waldemar, Colonel Heg and His Boys: A Norwegian Regiment in the American Civil War. Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 2000.
  • Buslett, Ole Amundsen. The Fifteenth Wisconsin (trans. of Det Femtende regiment Wisconsin frivillige). Ripon, Wis.: B.G. Scott, 1999.
  • "Hans Christian Heg". In Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library (comp.) The Wisconsin Blue Book 1933. Madison: Democrat Printing Co., 1933, pp. 37–41.
  • Heg, Hans Christian, The Civil War Letters of Colonel Hans Christian Heg. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2014.
  • Lovoll, Odd S, Colonel Hans Christian Heg and the Norwegian American Experience, Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2023.
  • Naeseth, Gerhard B, Norwegian Immigrants to the United States: A Biographical Directory. Vol. 1: 1825-1843. Decorah, Iowa: Amundsen Publishing Company, 1993.
[edit]
Wikisource has the text of a 1900 Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography article about Hans Christian Heg.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Edward M. McGraw
 Republican nominee for Prison Commissioner of Wisconsin
1859 		Succeeded by
Alexander P. Hodges
Military offices
Regiment established Command of the 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
February 14, 1862 – September 20, 1863 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Edward M. McGraw
 Prison Commissioner of Wisconsin
January 2, 1860 – January 6, 1862 		Succeeded by
Alexander P. Hodges
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hans_Christian_Heg&oldid=1254615284"