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.”
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.
In this Series
Pain and protest: Madison responds to the police killing of George Floyd (Summer 2020)
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Updated
Police protests: How Madison answered the police killing of George Floyd, in photos
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Updated
Photos: Look back at Madison's 'Forward' statue through the years as protesters down Capitol Square replica
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Updated
Restore or replace? Community reckons with what’s next for Capitol’s fallen statues
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Protesters knocked down two statues Tuesday evening, one that has come to represent women's rights and the other honoring an abolitionist.
Several State Street business owners said the disturbance at Coopers Tavern was not an isolated incident.
"The police department is hesitant because they don't feel that the City Council and definitely the mayor has their backs," Ald. Paul Skidmore said.
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After demonstrators against racial injustice toppled the “Forward” and Hans Christian Heg statues last Tuesday at Capitol Square, community members have grappled with whether the art should be restored or replaced entirely.
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