Photos: So who was Hans Christian Heg? Here's why the Civil War hero had a statue
From the Pain and protest: Madison responds to the police killing of George Floyd (Summer 2020) series
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, torn down by protesters at the state Capitol on June 23, honors a Norwegian immigrant from Wisconsin who died fighting for the Union Army in the Civil War.
“The State has sent no braver soldier, and no truer patriot to aid in this mighty struggle for national unity, than Hans Christian Heg,” the State Journal wrote Sept. 29, 1863, reporting word of his death. “The valorous blood of the old Vikings ran in his veins, united with the gentler virtues of a Christian and a gentlemen.”
Heg was mortally wounded in the bloody Battle of Chickamauga on Sept. 19 of that year and died the next day. The highest-ranked Wisconsin officer killed in combat during the Civil War, Heg commanded a regiment largely composed of other Scandinavian immigrants. He was 33 years old.
Heg settled in the Racine area with his parents in 1840 and lived in Wisconsin for all but one year, when he mined for Gold in the West before moving home to take over his family's farm. In 1859, he was elected to the statewide office of prison commander, "earning a reputation as a pragmatic reformer," according to the state Historical Society. Heg found an outlet for his anti-slavery views when he was tapped to lead his Union brigade.
The monument to Heg was unveiled on Capitol Square in October 1926 before a crowd of about 2,000 people. On Tuesday, a group of protesters tore it down, along with Wisconsin's "Forward" statue. Here's a look at coverage of Heg and the statue over the years.
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, a soldier who fought for the Union Army, is photographed on the anniversary of his death, Sept. 19, 2008, in Madison.
The statue of Colonel Hans Christian Heg, commander of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the Civil War, pictured here in 1950.
Norwegian-born Col. Hans Christian Heg of the 15th Wisconsin Infantry was mortally wounded fighting for the Union Army on Sept. 19, 1863, and died the next day. This statue of Heg by Norwegian-American sculptor Paul Fjelde, shown here in 1990, was erected in 1926.
Portrait of Col. Hans Christan Heg, commander of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War.
A lithograph titled "Charge of the 15th Wisconsin Regiment at Chickamauga; death of Colonel Heg," shows the mortal wounding of Hans Christian Heg.
Hans Christian Heg's death is reported in the State Journal on Sept. 29 1863.
Chickamauga National Military Park in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, is pictured here in 2013. The location is near where Wisconsin's Col. Hans Christian Heg would have fallen on the battlefield.
State Journal story on Sept. 23, 1924
Story from the State Journal on Oct. 18, 1926
View from the east corner of the state Capitol looking past the Hans Christian Heg statue with King Street in the background, circa 1936.
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg pictured outside the Capitol on Nov. 11, 1997.
Giorgio Gikas, president of Venus Bronze Works Inc., Detroit, uses a pressure washer July 15, 2002, to clean the statue of Hans Christian Heg that sits on the Capitol Square on the corner of South Pinckney Street and Main Street. This is the first stage of the cleaning and then waxing that takes almost a day to complete. Heg was the most noted Norwegian-American to serve in the Civil War.
Lisa McLaughin of Madison tries to fit a Solidarity T-shirt on the statue of Hans Christian Heg on Capitol Square on March 12, 2011. Tens of thousands of people crowded outside the Capitol during Act 10 protests.
The statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg is covered in at the State Capitol is covered in snow in Madison on Feb. 2, 2016.
Two protesters carry a leg from a statue of Hans Christian Heg, a Union Civil War colonel who fought for the end of slavery, during demonstrations in Madison on Tuesday. Protesters also tore down the state's "Forward" statue, assaulted a state senator and set a small fire in a city building Downtown.
The base of a statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, a Union Civil War colonel who fought for the end of slavery, remains after it was torn down by protesters during demonstrations in Madison on Tuesday night.
Protesters dump a statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg into Lake Monona on Tuesday night in Madison.
An empty pedestal where the statue of famed abolitionist Col. Hans Christian Heg once stood. It was a scene from around the State Capitol on Wednesday after a destructive night of protests.
The head of the Col. Hans Christian Heg statue is still missing and will likely need to be recast from an existing statue in the Racine County town of Norway.
The recovered remains of the statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, after it was torn down last month.
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Pain and protest: Madison responds to the police killing of George Floyd (Summer 2020)
Teryl Franklin | Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises National News Editor
Teryl Franklin is the National News Editor for Lee Enterprises. She previously worked in a variety of roles for the Wisconsin State Journal, including managing editor and senior editor for audience development.
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