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NEWS AND NOTES
Fall/Winter Issue – September 2011
DeForest Area Historical Society
Civil War Sesquicentennial: Looking Back 150 Years
The American Civil War began 150 years ago,
in 1861. Wisconsin was still a young state, and
Europeans had only recently begun to settle in
the DeForest area. Nevertheless, it left a mark
on this community, which furnished volunteers
for the Union. We dedicate this issue of our
newsletter to their memory, and to the people
and events that keep that memory alive today.
First volunteers, spring 1861
When the war began, few guessed it would last
four long, painful years. The 1st Wisconsin
Infantry organized in Milwaukee in April 1861
for three months’ service. The first volunteers
from our area—John J. Smith of Windsor, H. J.
Spaulding of Token Creek, and Brasier Ellis of
Westport—all returned to civilian life that
August. (Note: “Windsor” includes DeForest.)
Nearly 500 men
Two volumes in the society’s collections list the
soldiers in Wisconsin’s Civil War regiments.
Titled Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of
the Rebellion, 1861–1865, the list was compiled
from handwritten archives by order of the state
legislature and published in 1886. A searchable
form has recently been put online at
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/roster/
The 2nd Infantry soon organized at Camp
Randall with a more realistic goal of three years,
raising the risk. Albert Weatherbe of Westport
was killed in action in the Second Battle of Bull
Run in 1862. Joseph Plockett of Vienna was
discharged later that year for disability after
being wounded. Harbin Coffin of Burke was
wounded and taken prisoner at Gettysburg.
Norbert Manthe of DeForest, a World War II
veteran who has been assembling a data base of
area veterans in all United States wars, says the
printed roster has made his task easier for the
Civil War than for more recent conflicts. It lists
497 volunteers from in and around DeForest:
Of the Windsor men who joined the 3rd Infantry
that first spring in Fond du Lac, none came
home intact. Andrew T. Towley was wounded
and released from duty in 1862. Gabriel H.
Kahrs was killed in the Battle of
Chancellorsville a year later. Knud Monson died
of disease in the regiment hospital; disease
killed far more soldiers than battle.
Town of Windsor: 99 volunteers
Town of Leeds:
64 volunteers
Leeds Center:
6 volunteers
Spring Prairie:
89 volunteers
Town of Vienna: 50 volunteers
Town of Arlington: 46 volunteers
Town of Burke:
65 volunteers
Town of Westport: 78 volunteers
War continued, and more volunteers signed on,
among them Captain Moulton DeForest and
Major Newton DeForest. Some joined the
cavalry, heavy artillery, or a regiment of
sharpshooters. Several were listed as musicians.
(Civil War stories continued on page 2)
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Women and the War: Sabra Warner
Civil War Stories
(continued from page 1)
Women filled many roles in the war: keeping
farms and businesses working, going to the front
as nurses, and even attending university. The
University of Wisconsin decided to admit
women to its teacher training school, since so
many men were away at war.
Scandinavian Regiment
Wisconsin’s 15th Infantry organized at Camp
Randall, Madison, in December 1861. It drew
volunteers from southern Wisconsin, Minnesota,
and Iowa, mostly of Scandinavian birth or
descent. Some had come to America so recently
that commands were issued in both Norwegian
and English so everyone could understand.
Sabra Warner of Windsor was among those who
went to the university. In June 1864, all but one
of the men in her senior class enlisted in the 40th
Infantry for three months’ service. “The boys
came up from Camp Randall and spent their last
evening with the girls, and we gave them needle
books we had made and told them how glad we
were that they were going,” she wrote.
The company standard bore the Norwegianlanguage motto “FOR GUD OG VORT
LAND!” (for God and your country). Their
original-issue weapons were “Riflen og
Bajonetten” (rifles and bayonets); other
equipment consisted of “Feltflasken og
Brodposen” (canteen and haversack).
Her older brother, Captain (later Colonel)
Clement Warner, had just recently raised a
company for the newly formed 36th Infantry. In
August his left arm was shattered in the Second
Battle of Deep Bottom near Richmond. Sabra
received a letter he dictated in a hospital in
Washington DC: “As I am in need of some nice
little girl to wait on me I have concluded to send
for you.” She boarded the train for Washington
that very day and tended her brother for three
weeks. They returned to Windsor together in
time for a joyful family Thanksgiving.
The “Scandinavian Regiment” fought in major
battles in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Their leader, Colonel Hans Heg of Waterford,
died in the Battle of Chickamauga GA; his
statue stands on Capitol Square in Madison.
DeForest area volunteers who joined the
regiment at its start fared little better. Nels
Nelson and Andrew Asperheim were killed in
action, Nils Bjornson and John Opdahl died at
the infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia,
Marcus Johnson and Herman Peterson died of
disease, Knud Larson died of wounds, and
several came home alive but wounded.
Civil War Weekend in DeForest, 1994
Rod Dary’s Civil War Museum (see page 3) and
the DeForest Area Historical Society cosponsored a Civil War reenactment in Western
Green Park on the 4th of July weekend in 1994.
The Yahara River separated “Union” campsites
to the north and “Confederate” to the south.
Drilling at Token Creek
Sydney Bryant Combs grew up in a log house at
Token Creek, where his family farmed 80 acres
they had purchased from the government. Years
later, Combs recalled Civil War soldiers drilling
in Token Creek. Because they did not have real
muskets, Elias Combs (Sydney’s father) made
them wooden models to practice with.
About 70 reenactors from the surrounding area
and their families took part. Along with military
demonstrations and model skirmishes, the event
featured a field hospital, a blacksmith shop,
music, dancing, storytelling, and a ladies’ tea.
For more about reenactments, see page 3
(“Reenactor, Collector, Society Director”).
Six Civil War soldiers are buried at Token
Creek, including John and Melvin Combs.
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Civil War Museum
DeForest Area Historical Society
In the museum he built on Cleveland Street in
DeForest, across from Eagle Point Elementary
School, Rod Dary’s Civil War collection is a
labor of love. Each of his more than 2,000
items—uniforms, artifacts, letters, and photos—
tells a Wisconsin story. A past historical society
director, Dary does archival research to discover
the stories behind the items.
Contact Information
Mail: PO Box 124, DeForest WI 53532
Phone: (608) 846-5482
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.deforest.lib.wi.us/
history/historicalsociety.htm
He started 45 years ago with a hat, sword, and
sword belt picked up at an auction in Poynette.
He learned about the family. “Once you have
something with a little history, it changes
things,” he says. When members of the Poynette
Historical Society visited his museum this past
July, one of his visitors was the great-greatgrandson of the sword belt’s original owner.
Sites and Hours
Hansen-Newell-Bennett House, 119 East Elm
Street, DeForest; museum open 1-3 the second
Sunday of each month June through October
Lyster House, 201 DeForest Street, DeForest;
Chamber of Commerce uses the space, open to
the public during Chamber hours
DeForest Depot, 215 Market Street, DeForest,
just south of Lyster House; exterior and grounds
open to the public
Among his hundred photographs and family
histories are photos of two brothers in the Union
Army. One died at Andersonville Prison in
Georgia; the other was on his way home when
the wagon tipped over, breaking his neck.
Office and gallery in library, 203 Library Street,
DeForest; office open 9-11:30 most Tuesdays
and Thursdays; gallery open during library hours
For many who did come home, life was never
the same. “Post-traumatic syndrome was not
diagnosed until Vietnam, but they had it then,”
he says. His current project is a display about
the hospital Cordelia Harvey established in
Madison for wounded veterans; it later became
a home for 700 Civil War orphans.
diet even for a few days!), and suddenly things
that you read about take on a whole new
meaning,” he writes. He and his wife, Beth, had
a second wedding in period clothing as part of
one reenactment.
He began adding Civil War volumes to his
history book collection, including regimental
and personal histories by Civil War veterans.
Their focus on Wisconsin connections took
Marc and Beth to the National Archives and
battlefield visitor centers.
Reenactor, Collector, Society Director
Society director and Wisconsin native Marc
Storch found his Civil War passion when his
first job after college took him to Maryland,
surrounded by Civil War battlefields such as
Gettysburg, Chancellorsville, and Antietam. He
got hooked on reenactments and took part in
living histories at battlefield national parks.
Specializing in photographs of Wisconsin
soldiers, they collected over 700 identified
Wisconsin images through Civil War shows,
antique shops, and trades with other collectors.
They work with the historical society to share
these images with descendants looking for their
ancestors. Now they are digitizing the entire
collection for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum.
“Not only does reenacting allow you to learn
about the life of a soldier from inside a woolen
uniform, but you also learn how men were
taught to drill, how to cook as they did (hard
crackers, salt pork and coffee are not an easy
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From the President . . .
with numbers and computer programs, in
addition to gardening and hunting.
I am confident that you will enjoy our fall
newsletter, which includes an insert on our
annual membership drive. Please help support
the volunteers who work so hard to preserve and
share our local history. Thanks to our newsletter
editor and all who helped prepare the
newsletter—this one of special interest because
of its focus on the history of the Civil War.
We extend special thanks to Joan Woodward,
who preceded Doris as our treasurer. She served
the society in that role so ably for a decade.
Louise is a long-time resident of DeForest,
settling here in the mid-1980s. She joined the
DeForest Library staff in1989 and has worked
with children ever since. Currently the
children’s librarian in the DeForest Area Public
Library, Louise spends many hours weekly with
youngsters and parents, sharing books and
book-related activities. You likely have seen her
on one of the floats during the annual 4th of July
Parade in DeForest.
We are so happy to welcome two new members
to our Executive Board, Doris Hodgson and
Louise Valdovinos.
Doris has worked at the library archival center
for several months as a volunteer, sharing her
expertise with computer records. She has spent
many hours entering information relating to
abstracts, videotapes, and audiotapes.
Louise has many interests, including sewing,
knitting, and quilting, with reading at the top of
the list of course. She is a “lifetime Girl Scout”
and served for many years in a leadership role
with the Scouts. Louise has been very
supportive of the society’s mission and has
worked with the group on many projects.
Doris is a life-long resident of the DeForest
area. She served as a payroll and benefits
administrator for over 30 years, first with
companies in Madison and then with ABS in
DeForest. She is applying her many skills from
working with finances in her new society role as
our treasurer. Doris notes that she loves working
John Englesby, President
DeForest Area Historical Society
Box 124
DeForest, Wisconsin 53532
“Behold the Work of the Old . . .
Let your Heritage not be lost.
But Bequeath it as a Memory, Treasure and Blessing . . .
Gather the lost and the hidden
And preserve it for thy Children.” - C. Metz (1846)
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