Colonel Augustus Forsberg, "Forsberg's Brigade", C.S.A

Colonel Forsberg had a very strong willed wife, Mary Morgan Otey Forsberg, also known as Mollie. She was the daughter of a wealthy Lynchburg, VA, tobacconist. She met Colonel Forsberg, 51, of the 51st Virginia Infantry in the Lynchburg hospital in 1864. They married in 1865, when Col. Forsberg returned to Lynchburg. After the war it was forbidden to wear the Confederate military insignia in public. Mollie took no notice. She had a jacket made in Confederate officer style and there she added the three gold stars of her husband and a military style gold braid to the sleeves. She then wore it over a gray skirt. There must have been quite a stir in Lynchburg.
Her husband was born in Sweden, January 13, 1831. Augustus Forsberg was a graduate of the Royal Academy in Stockholm and was serving as a lieutenant in the engineering corps of the Swedish army in 1852. For health purposes he was recommended a sea voyage by his doctor. A furlough from the Swedish Army was secured. Having arrived in the United States he later established an office as architect in Baltimore, Maryland and also worked for the U. S. Government in Washington D. C. as a topographical draftsman.
In 1861 Forsberg volunteered and in August 1861 he joined the 51st Virginia Infantry Regiment and in October was appointed lieutenant. Between August 1861 and May 1862 he took part in three battles and was cited for bravery at Fort Donelson. His bravery, leadership ability and valor was widely recognized. In May 1862 he was promoted to Lt. Colonel and in July 1863 became colonel of the 51st. After a time in hospital in 1864 he returned and succeeded Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton as commander of "Forsberg's Brigade", as it was later known (45th, 50th, 51st Virginia Infantry and the 30th Battalion, Virginia Sharpshooters). It distinguished itself in a number of battles during 1864. Late 1864 he was wounded in the hand and spent time in the Lynchburg hospital but resumed command of the brigade in February 1865 and was captured along with most of his command in March 1865 at Waynesboro, Virginia. Forsberg served as city engineer of Lynchburg for twenty-one years. He designed and directed the construction of many of the public buildings in the city. Passing away in 1910 he is buried at the Presbytarian Cemetery in Lynchburg. One of his friends spoke at his grave and said: "Here lies this generous stranger who watered with his precious blood the tree of liberty."
Mollie lived to 1918 and the coat mentioned above remained with a daughter, Hilda Forsberg Davis. She donated the coat to the Lynchburg Museum where it can now be seen.
The diary of Colonel Forsberg was donated in 1981 to the Washington and Lee library. The Forsberg clan is widely spread and thriving to this day.

ExperTrans language - multilingual services
ExperTrans voice-overs services
ExperTrans interpreting translation services