(Picture from Wisconsin historical society)
A statue of a Norwegian-born Civil War hero was torn down yesterday in Madison, Wisconsin. The hero, Hans Christian Heg, was an abolitionist who gave his life to end slavery.
Isabel Togoh at Forbes reported this morning on actions in Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday:
Protesters in Wisconsin drew condemnation late on Tuesday after tearing down the statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, smashing windows at the state house and assaulting a state senator, marking a departure from previous demonstrations targeting symbols of colonizers and Confederate figures.
Heg’s statute was reportedly beheaded and rolled through the streets before being thrown in the lake.
The Hans Christian Heg statue is lying headless in lake Monona. #wkow pic.twitter.com/0grawivgtf
— Michelle Alfini (@MichelleAlf) June 24, 2020
The far-left rioters apparently didn’t know or didn’t care that Heg was an abolitionist who devoted his life to freeing the slaves:
So they tore down the statue of an anti-slave catcher militia? A dude who killed slave owners?
— Ryan Mason (@qdobagoodingjr) June 24, 2020
Togoh didn’t provide much information on Heg but findagrave.com shares this:
Civil War Union Army Officer. Born Lier, Norway he came to the United States at age eleven. During the California gold rush he became a Forty-Niner going to California in that year and returning to Wisconsin in 1851. There he held local offices becoming a leader in the Norwegian community and an outspoken anti-slavery advocate. In 1859 he was elected State Prison Commissioner, the first Norwegian elected to a statewide office in Wisconsin. In 1861 after the start of the Civil War he was commissioned Colonel of the 15th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served at Island No. 10, Shiloh, Corinth, Stone’s River and Chickamauga. At Chickamauga he commanded a brigade and was mortally wounded on the 19th, dying the next day at Crawfish Springs.
Heg was a Civil War hero from Wisconsin:
In mid-September Rosecrans moved south against the army of Braxton Bragg, encountering the Confederates a few miles south of Chattanooga drawn up along the banks of Chickamauga Creek. Heg and his men arrived on the right of the Union line around noon on September 19, 1863. After advancing a short way they were met with a volley from Rebels concealed in heavy woods. They held their ground, “cheered on by the gallant Colonel Heg, who was everywhere present, careless of danger.” Several times they were forced to fall back, then reformed and advanced. Then between 4 and 5 p.m. Hood’s Texans attacked, and his six Confederate bridades overwhelmed the Union three. Heg was mortally wounded in the attack; 696 of the 1,218 of his men who had gone into battle were killed, wounded or missing, a casualty rate of more than 50%. The following day the Confederates completed the rout of the Union army, driving Rosecrans all the way back to Chattanooga. Almost 35,000 men were lost between the two armies in one of the fiercest battles of the war.
