Oscar Malmborg
Encyclopedia
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, primarily the 55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment
55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 55th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment is sometimes referred to as the Canton Rifles or the Douglas Brigade 2nd Regiment.-Service:...
in which he served.
Background
Malmborg was born at the Rågåkra farm in Kräklingbo parish on the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
island of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. He was the son of Captain Pehr Gustaf Malmborg (1777-1828), who had been decorated with the gold medal for bravery after the Battle of Svensksund
Battle of Svensksund (1790)
The Battle of Svensksund was a naval battle fought in the Gulf of Finland outside the present day city of Kotka on 9 July 1790. The Swedish naval forces dealt the Russian fleet a devastating defeat that resulted in an end to the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–90...
in 1790, before he was teenager. Oscar Malmborg emigrated to the United States in 1846 and fought in the Mexican War.
Career
From 1853 to 1861 he worked as an immigration agent for the Illinois Central RailroadIllinois Central Railroad
The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa...
. He returned to Europe to promote emigration to America.
President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
formally recognized Malmborg as the vice consul of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
at Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
on November 22, 1861. The same year he returned to military service and was appointed as a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
.
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
after Colonel David Stuart
David Stuart (politician)
David Stuart was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
was badly wounded, Malmborg assumed temporary command of the Second Brigade of the Fifth Division commanded by Brigadier General William T. Sherman. In the advance on Corinth, Mississippi
Corinth, Mississippi
Corinth is a city in Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,054 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Alcorn County. Its ZIP codes are 38834 and 38835.- History :...
, Malmborg correctly predicted what the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
forces were attempting. In an official report on April 10, 1862, Colonel Stuart wrote of Malmborg, "He instantly perceived the aim of every movement made by the enemy; he could advise me quickly and prudently how to use my men. He was intent, careful, brave, and immensely valuable to me." General Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
took notice and complimented him.
After Stuart resigned on April 3, 1863, Malmborg became the permanent commander until being relieved. He resigned on September 20, 1864. On January 1, 1865, Malmborg was commissioned a colonel in the First Veteran Army Corps under General Winfield Scott Hancock and was ordered to oversee the recruiting in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, with headquarters in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
once again. He resigned from this position on May 31, 1865.
Later years
Encouraged by Sherman, Malmborg published his memoirs of the Civil War. He chose the title Tjensteförteckning, and it was published in Chicago in 1871. Almost blind, Malmborg returned to SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 1874 and settled in Visby
Visby
-See also:* Battle of Visby* Gotland University College* List of governors of Gotland County-External links:* - Visby*...
on Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
living on his pension. Some of his letters have been edited and published by A. A. Stomberg. He died in Visby on April 29, 1880, at the age of 60.
Other sources
- Olson, Ernst W. The Swedish Element In Illinois (Chicago: Swedish-American Biographical Association. 1917)
- Olson, Ernst W. and Martin J. Engberg History of the Swedes of Illinois (Chicago: Engberg-Holmberg Publishing Company. 1908)