• Travel by steamboat downriver, march for miles, fire volleys and feel the reverberations of cannon fire in battles with tens of thousands, fix your bayonets and rout the enemy, build fortifications and hunker down in trenches while Minnie balls zing overhead. Be in on the unfolding action with the Norwegian regiment!

• “Dispatches from the Front” features a month by month recap of activities of the 15^th Wisconsin Infantry—the “Norwegian Regiment” as they soldiered on in the War Between the States. Throughout the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial, we’ll follow the 15^th’s progress in real time as recorded from the front.

• Most of the primary source images posted here date from the 1860’s. Engravings from artists who sketched relevant scenes while at the front and were published in illustrated newspapers such as Harper’s Weekly often accompany the dispatches. What you see here is largely drawn directly from these period sources. There are no “copy and paste” web captures.

• For semi-annual narratives of the 15^th’s progress and additional engravings, become a member and receive our magazine, Budstikken.

• Click along as we recreate the era of the Civil War—in real time. Bookmark our site. Sign up for automatic notification or check back often. Share this exclusive Valdres Samband web link with your friends.

The regimental flag shown here is from the collections of the Vesterheim Museum.  It was presented to the 15th Wisconsin in Chicago as it made its way to the front.

Inscription on the front of the flag reads: Presented by the Society Nora of Chicago to the Scandinavien Regiment    March 1st 1862  For God og Vort Land! (for God and our Country).