From Hälsingland to Bloody Shiloh and beyond

A Swedish-American farm boy in the . Part 2

BY PAUL SWARD

The Disastrous Red The 43rd Illinois departed Little wagon train was also attacked by the Rock on March 23rd as part of Gene- Confederates who defeated and cap- River Campaign ral Steele’s forces. From the very tured the three regiments of Union The is a little beginning things did not portend troops guarding the wagon train. known Union defeat that is best well. The countryside that Over 1,300 men were lost.3 described as a fiasco. The object of the they marched through was sparsely campaign was to capture Shreveport, populated with rugged hills alter- Retreat Louisiana, and gain control of the nating with pine barrens and Red River which would lead to the General Steele was now in an un- swamps. It was described as a how- tenable position. He still had inade- capture of east . The plan called ling wilderness.2 What few roads for Union General Banks to lead an quate supplies and no way of ob- there were became quagmires with th army up the Red River, accompanied taining any. After dark on April 26 a small amount of rain. Because of rd by the Union Navy. General Steele the 43 Illinois, along with all Steele’s his concern about supplying his troops, quietly abandoned Camden would march south from Little Rock troops, Steele immediately put his and both forces would converge on and began the long retreat back to men on half rations. Little Rock. The 43rd Illinois had the Shreveport. However, it didn’t quite nd rd On April 2 the 43 Illinois skir- unenviable position of being part of work out that way. Banks was de- mished with Confederate cavalry at feated by a much smaller Confeder- the rear guard of the army. On April Okolona, Arkansas. From now on, 29th the 43rd Illinois repulsed three ate force in two separate battles and Steele’s column was under continual retreated back down the Red River. separate advances by the Con- harassment by Confederate cavalry. federates. On April 30th the Con- General Steele’s force had an even th On April 10 , as part of the battle of federates attacked in force while more difficult time.1 rd Prairie d’ Ane, the 43 Illinois and Steele was crossing his forces at the th 40 , supported by artillery, Saline River which became known as attacked a Confederate fortified po- the Battle of Jenkin’s Ferry. The 43rd sition and drove them from the field. Illinois, as part of the rear guard, was While on the march to Camden, in the thick of it. Fortunately, the th th Arkansas, April 12 through the 14 , Union forces had a strong defensive rd the 43 Illinois was involved in position and the Confederate attack several skirmishes with Confederate was disjointed. The Confederates troops. were repulsed with heavy losses. Confederate harassment drove Parenthetically, there is a family Steele to entrench his troops at Cam- story in which Andrew witnessed a den. He was now desperately short Union artillery unit targeting a Con- of supplies and his men were half- federate officer. 4 Allegedly, this tar- starved. Steele sent out a large geting resulted in the decapitation of wagon train to forage the country- the officer. If this story is not apoc- side. Confederate forces destroyed ryphal, it is possible that it occurred this wagon train. Over 400 men and at Jenkin’s Ferry, since the 43rd Illi- 198 wagons were lost. Another wagon nois was brigaded with an artillery train bringing supplies from Pine unit and fought a defensive battle. Bluffs did get through to Steele’s po- However, it could also have occurred th sition. However, on April 18 during on many other occasions. General Frederick Steele (1819– the return trip to Pine Bluffs, this 1868). In the aftermath of this battle the

10 Swedish American Genealogist 2011:2 Union forces continued their retreat. bushes were routinely conducted by Andrew’s pension was based on The retreat was ignominious. The Rebel guerillas. However, there is no the illness he was hospitalized for in half-starved Union troops left much record indicating that any of the 1865 at Little Rock. According to his of their equipment strewn behind Swedes became casualties resulting declaration he was hospitalized for them as they struggled to gain the from Rebel guerilla activity. three months. He had originally con- safety of the Little Rock fortifications On March 7, 1865, Andrew re- tracted cholera which was followed which they finally reached on May turned to Company A of the 43rd Illi- by typhoid fever. Andrew further 3rd. nois where he remained until he was claimed that although he had re- Amazingly, it appears that not one mustered out of the army. After the covered from these diseases, his of the Swedish boys was killed or war was over the regiment remained lungs had been permanently dam- wounded during the Red River Cam- on duty at Little Rock. Andrew was aged which left him unable to per- paign. Although it is clear that they admitted into the Little Rock Gener- form manual labor without great were forced to endure great hardship al Hospital, which was located at St. difficulty. There were affidavits filed during this expedition. John’s College, on August 12, 1865. on behalf of Andrew supporting his He had previously been in the regi- claim.7 However, it should be noted Detailed to the Pioneer mental hospital. Andrew’s pension that a significant number of Civil War application indicates that he had veterans applied for a disability pen- Corps and the End of become sick in July. The records sions and not all were valid. the War indicate he was admitted for “remit Piecing together the remainder of For the remainder of the war the 43rd fever.” On September 20th he was Andrew’s life has been difficult. I was Illinois and Andrew Engstrom were returned to duty.5 unable to locate any of his direct garrisoned at Little Rock. On July 1, On November 30, 1865, Andrew descendants. Perhaps this article will 1864, Andrew was detailed to the and all the remaining Swedes in cause one to come forward. Pioneer Corps. Company A were mustered out of the However, I was able to locate The Pioneer Corps was essentially service at Little Rock. They were descendants of his brother Olof, who an engineering unit. It was utilized transported to Springfield, Illinois. had knowledge of Andrew. At some by the army to build roads, bridges, There they received their final pay point Andrew became estranged from and fortifications. Although Andrew on December 14th and returned his wife. At the time of his death he never fought again in a pitched home. Of the original 99 men in the was residing by himself in Genoa, battle, he and the other Swedish Galesburg Light Guards, one had Nebraska. His wife, as well as his soldiers faced constant danger. deserted, 26 were discharged for three adult children, were living in Arkansas was a center of guerilla disability, and 20 had died.6 Kansas.8 activity. Acts of sabotage and am- Edwin Engstrom, a descendant of Aftermath of the War Olof, related that Andrew had be- In the 1870 Illinois federal census, come an alcoholic and led a dys- Andrew and his brother Peter, who functional life. Andrew, who had been had also served in the war with the living near his brother Olof in Ne- 148th Illinois Regiment, were again braska, had become a concern for the residing with their parents in Henry family. Consequently, they placed County, Illinois. him in a Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Home. In Andrew’s military pension re- Unfortunately, Andrew did not like cords it indicates that he married it there and returned to Genoa, Ne- Christina Lenstrom (also shown as braska. Lendstrom) the same year. Andrew’s It was there that he died on Janu- pension records reflect that he moved ary 27, 1915, resulting from a fire to Republic County, Kansas, in 1879. which his obituary opined was caused The 1880 Kansas federal census has by Andrew’s pipe igniting his bed- 9 Andrew and Christina with two chil- clothes. dren residing and farming in Repub- lic County. The pension records re- The end veal that Andrew subsequently lived Andrew, a Swedish immigrant farm in various locations in Kansas as well boy, had left his home in 1861 to fight as Nance County, Nebraska. In the for his adopted homeland. During the 1910 Nebraska federal census, An- four years that he served in the army drew is a resident at the Soldiers’ and he had endured horrendous combat Sailors’ Home in Hall County, Ne- as well as almost constant exposure Andrew’s hospital record. braska. to the elements and disease. At the

Swedish American Genealogist 2011:2 11 end of his service he contracted two of these diseases which appear to have had an adverse effect on his life. Did the war destroy his health? Did he become a dysfunctional alcoholic due to what is now called posttraum- atic stress disorder? Perhaps his life was not shaped by his war experi- ences, but it seems unlikely. What we do know is that Andrew’s sacrifices, along with the sacrifices of thousands of other young Swedes, helped to pre- serve the Union and end slavery in America. Notes: 1 Foote, Shelby, The Civil War; a Narrative, , 1963. 2 Joiner, Gary, Through the Howling Wilderness; The1864 Red River Campaign and Union Failure in the West, Knoxville, 2006. 3 Ibid. 4 Interview of Edwin Engstrom, 2010. 5 Andrew Engstrom’s Compiled Mili- tary Service Record, National Ar- chives and Records Administra- tion. 6 Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois Containing Reports for the Years 1861 – 1866, Springfield, 1901. 7 Andrew Engstrom’s Compiled Mili- tary Pension Record, National Archives and Records Administra- tion. 8 Ibid. 9 Unknown Nebraska newspaper, 1915.

Andrew’s sons at Headstone for Andrew Engstrom in Valley their father’s View Cemetery, Genoa, NE. (Findagrave) gravesite in October 1924. The author: Paul D. Sward (Paul D. Sward collection) E-mail

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