Vitals:
- Born: December 1828, at Evanger, Voss, Kingdom of Norway.
- Father: Gullik Anderson Skjervaeggen (1789-1835).
- Mother: Mari Gulliksdatter Fadness (1790-1870).
- Immigrated to America: 1848.
- Married: October 15, 1849, to Ranvei Gulliksdatter Langeland (1827-1898), at Spring Prairie, Columbia County, Wisconsin.
- Married: November 21, 1883, to Mary S. Sheldy Olsen (1853-1937), at Northwood, Worth County, Iowa.
- Died: December 25, 1916, Lyle, Mower County, Minnesota.
- Buried: Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Mona, Mitchell County, Iowa.
Knud Gullickson was enlisted in Company K of the 15th Wisconsin by 2nd Lieutenant Olaus Solberg in Mitchell County, Iowa, on January 28, 1862, for a 3 year term of service. The men of Company K called themselves "Clausen's Guards", in honor of the 15th's first Chaplain, Claus L. Clausen, who was from St. Ansgar, Iowa.
Knud was mustered into Federal service at the rank of Private on February 11, 1862, at Camp Randall, near Madison, Wisconsin. He was listed by the army as being a 33 year old married resident from Mitchell County, Iowa. He is believed to have been farming near the Town of Osage, in Mitchell County.
At the time of his enlistment Knud and his wife Ranvei had had four children: Maria K, born 1851 and died within one year of birth; Gullick Knutson, born in 1852 and died within one year of birth); Mari Johanna, born August 30, 1855; Gullick Knutson, born February 2, 1858; and Mary Knutson, born September 25, 1861.
After three weeks of training at Camp Randall, on March 2, 1862 Private Gullickson left with his company and regiment to join the war. He may have participated in the surprise raid on Confederate Cavalry forces at Union City, Tennessee, in late March of 1862.
He may also have taken part in the successful siege of New Madrid Island No. 10, on the Mississippi River in Tennessee, during March and early April of 1862. After the surrender of this island, on April 7, 1862, Company K, and other companies, were sent to occupy the island. There was much hard, physical work to be done on the island; fortifications that had pointed northward, had to be moved to point southward to defend against a possible Confederate attack from the south.
The conditions present on the island caused many complaints, sickness, and even death amongst the soldiers there. Apparently this had its effects on Private Gullickson, who was recorded as being "Sick in his quarters" for at least part of this time.
On June 11, 1862, Private Gullickson departed Island No. 10 by steamboat, along with his company and regiment, to go on a summer campaign through Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama. However, starting June 20, 1862, he was listed as being "Sick in the hospital" at Union City, Tennessee. It is believed that he caught up again with the 15th after it left Union City and marched south to Jacinto, Mississippi.
On July 27, 1862, Private Gullickson was transferred from Jacinto to the General Hospital in Farmington, Mississippi, where he was admitted, suffering from tuberculosis. On July 30, 1862, he was transferred north to Camp Dennison, near the City of Cinncinati, where he was admitted to the General Hospital on August 5, 1862.
Despite nearly six months spent recuperating in Army hospitals, Private Gullickson had been unable to recover his health. As a result the Army gave him an honorable discharge due to "disability" on December 9, 1862, at Camp Dennison. His Certificate of Disability for Discharge listed Knud as being "thirty three years of age, five feet four inches high, light complexion, blue eyes, and sandy hair." It also said that he was a farmer when he enlisted; and that he was incapable of performing the duties of a soldier.
It is said that Knud then returned to his home in Mitchell County, Iowa. Knud and his wife Ranvei had 2 more children at Osage, Iowa: Andrina Korina, born October 25, 1864; and Gustav Adolph Knutson, born August 20, 1868. In 1874 Knud moved his family to Burnett County, Wisconsin, where he farmed. There in 1878 he applied for and received an Invalid's Pension based on the following incident:
While on duty at New Madrid Island No. 10, on or about the 13th day of June, 1862, he was just relieved of Guard duty when the wagon hub in a passing wagon crashed his side and broke a rib, from which he was disabled for nine days. Two weeks later he was layed up for 14 days in a Hospital at Union City, Tennessee with Cholera. He was then layed up in Camp Erickson for three days. He also was sick in the General Hospital at Camp Dennison, Ohio, for two months, from which he was discharged on a Surgeon's Certificate of Disability.
Around 1880 Knud moved back to Mitchell County, Iowa. On April 20, 1882, he and Ranvei were divorced at Grantsburg, Burnett County, Wisconsin. In 1883 Knud married Mary Olson in Worth County, Iowa. They had one child: Klara Sofia, born May 16, 1884, at Mona, Mitchell County, Iowa, and died within two years.
In 1886 Knud applied for an increase in his pension. As part of this he submitted an affidavit sworn in Mitchell County that stated: "On the march from Hickman, Kentucky, to Union City, he contracted the Piles." In February, 1907, he applied for a veterans pension; and at that time he was living in the Town of Lyle, Minnesota. Sixteen years later Knud passed away there, at the home of his daughter Maria Gullickson. His death was ruled to be due to paralysis and senility.
It sounds like Knud had a fairly rough and sad life.
Submitted to IaGenWeb by Kathy Pike
Edited by Kermit Kittleson, August 2004.