Colonel Augusto Forsberg, "Forsberg’s Brigade"THAT IS
Colonel Forsberg had a very strong-willed wife, Mary Morgan Otey Forsberg, also known as Mollie. She was the daughter of a wealthy tobacconist from Lynchburg, VA. She met Colonel Forsberg, 51, of the 51st Virginia Infantry at the Lynchburg hospital in 1864. They were married in 1865, when Col. Forsberg returned to Lynchburg. After the war, wearing the Confederate military insignia in public was prohibited. Mollie ignored it. She made herself a Confederate officer-style jacket and there she added her husband’s three gold stars and military-style gold braid on 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 on January 13, 1831. Augustus Forsberg graduated from the Royal Stockholm Academy and was serving as a lieutenant in the Swedish Army Corps of Engineers in 1852. For health reasons, a trip to sea. His doctor secured a license from the Swedish army. Having arrived in the United States, he later established an office as an architect in Baltimore, Maryland and also worked for the United States Government in Washington DC as a topographical draftsman.
In 1861 Forsberg volunteered and in August 1861 he joined the 51st Virginia Infantry Regiment and in October was commissioned a lieutenant. Between August 1861 and May 1862 he participated in three battles and was cited for his gallantry at Fort Donelson. His bravery, leadership ability and courage were widely recognized. In May 1862 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and in July 1863 he became a colonel of the 51st. After some time in the 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 30th Battalion, Virginia Sharpshooters). He distinguished himself in several battles during 1864. Late in 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 in Waynesboro, Virginia. Forsberg served as the Lynchburg City Engineer for twenty-one years. He designed and directed the construction of many of the city’s public buildings. Passing away in 1910, he is buried in the Lynchburg Presbyterian Cemetery. One of his friends spoke at his grave and said: “Here lies this generous stranger who watered the tree of liberty with his precious blood.”
Mollie lived until 1918 and the aforementioned coat was left to a daughter, Hilda Forsberg Davis. She donated the coat to the Lynchburg Museum, where it can now be seen.
Colonel Forsberg’s journal was donated in 1981 to the Washington and Lee Library. The Forsberg clan is widespread and prosperous to this day.
