Nordquist did not make use of his official power to shirk his duty in the hour of danger, but was present and actively engaged at every battle, in which his division participated. On the fields of Harper's Ferry, Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, First Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, The Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania and Coal Harbor he was present in person, administering the comforts of his profession to the sick and dying soldiery. As a surgeon, he was most successful, and several of his cases are mentioned in the surgical history of the war of the Rebellion.

At the battle of Gettysburg, on the 1st of July, 1863, he was taken prisonerby the Confederates and was held for three days and nights upon one pint of flour without the means of preparing it for food. Being placed by his captors in one of the churches of the town, he escaped by crawling into the steeple and remaining concealed till the advance of the Union troops. On June 23, 1864, he closed his career in the army and sought again the quiet of his home in Tuckahoe. Here he has since remained, honored and respected among his associates in the profession and looked up to with pleasure by the many friends who surround the home of his adoption.

He is a Republican in politics, and held the office of coroner for four years. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, and is wellknown for his liberality. He married on April 28, 1846, Harriet Louise Goodwin, and has had three children, all daughters, of whom one died in early vouth and two still survive and are married.