Charles J. Stolbrand (May 13, 1821 – February 3, 1894), was a sergeant in the Swedish artillery who emigrated to the United States, becoming a brigadier general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and a politician in South Carolina after the war.
Stolbrand was born as one of nine illegitimate children of Adolf Fredrik Tornérhjelm, a nobleman and manor owner, with his mistress Christina Möller, a chambermaid at the manor. At the age of 18, in 1839, Stolbrand enlisted in the Royal Wendish Artillery, at the same time changing his family name from Möller, to Ståhlbrand. In 1850 he resigned from the Swedish army, and emigrated to the United States with his wife and a three-year-old son.[2][3] Stolbrand first settled in New York City in 1852 and then eventually made his way to Chicago with his family, earning his livelihood as a land surveyor, and clerk in the Cook CountyRecorder's Office. He participated actively in the city's political and social life, being one of the founders of the Svea Society, a middle class Swedish-American secularassociation, serving as its president for several years.[4][5][6]
At the beginning of the Civil War, Stolbrand raised a volunteer artillery company, but it was not accepted into service, as Illinois' quota already had been filled. However, when a new call for troops came, he raised another artillery company that, later in 1861, became Battery G, 2nd Illinois Light Artillery, with himself as captain. After about a month's service, Stolbrand was promoted to major.[7][8][9] He served in the Army of the Tennessee, as Chief of Artillery, Third Division, XVII Corps, and as Chief of Artillery, XVII Corps, in both instances under John A. Logan as commander of the division and the corps.[10] Stolbrand became a prisoner of war in September 1864, incarcerated in Columbia, South Carolina, but exchanged within a month[11][12] In 1865, he was promoted to brigadier general, becoming commander of Second Brigade, Fourth Division, XVII Army Corps.[8][13] Colonel Hans Mattson tells us in his memoirs, that it was General Sherman himself who arranged with President Lincoln to have Stolbrand promoted, since he otherwise would have resigned.[14]
Stolbrand married Maria Sophia Petersson, the daughter of a sergeant-major in the same regiment as his. The couple had three children in Sweden, but two died before their departure for America. In their adopted country, they had another four children; three daughters and a son.[2] The son eventually served six years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army.[8] In 1894, Stolbrand contracted influenza which resulted in a collapsed lung; he died as a result.[19] He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, under the name of Carlos J. Stolbrand.[20]
Olson, Ernst W. (1917). The Swedish Element in Illinois. Chicago : Swedish-American Biographical Association.
Olsson, Nils William & Wikén, Erik (1995). Swedish Passenger Arrivals in the United States 1820–1850. Stockholm: Acta Bibliothecæ Regiæ Stockholmensis.
Reynolds, John S. (1905). Reconstruction in South Carolina. Columbus: The State Co. Publishers,
Stolbrand, Carlos John Meullers & Aiken, David Wyatt (1882), Stolbrand vs. Aiken. Papers and testimony in the contested election case of C.J. Stolbrand vs. D. Wyatt Aiken, from the third Congressional district of South Carolina. Washington, D.C.: United States House of Representatives.
