Niels Semb Tufte

Nels G. Tufte 15th Wisconsin, Profile of Nels G. Tufte of Company D, aka Semb Gregoriussen Tufte.

15th Wisconsin on December 10, 1861, by Captain Charles Campbell ...Nels was mustered into Federal service at the rank of Private on December 16, 1861, at Camp Randall, near the City of Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin. At the time he was recorded by the Army as being 29 years old and not married. His residence was listed as the Town of Pine Lake, Waukesha County, State of Wisconsin. He had been a sailor on the Great Lakes from the age of 15 until he enlisted in the 15th. On January 1, 1862, Private Tufte was appointed as a Corporal in Company D. On January 14, 1862, the men of the 15th Wisconsin were issued Belgian rifled muskets. After 2 and a half months at Camp Randall learning to be a soldier, Corporal Tufte left there on March 2, 1862, with his company and regiment to join the war. He is thought to have participated in the successful siege of Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River in the State of Tennessee, and the surprise raid on Union City, Tennessee, in March and April, 1862. On May 1, 1862, Corporal Tufte was appointed as a Sergeant in Company D. On June 11, 1862, Sergeant Tufte would have left Island No. 10 with the 15th to on go on summer campaign through Tennessee and the States of Mississippi and Alabama.