Help paint a picture of Paul Erikson(1808-1863)

I'm trying to get a handle on this guy. Born Paul Erikson Birth record and migration record #48 Once in the US, his named morphed several times. He settled in the Wyoming Valley, Iowa County, Wisconsin. The 1850 census had him as Powell Erickson and he was then enlisted in the Civil War as Edward Paul and would die from Typhoid Fever in 1863. We found the his father, Erich Larson served as a soldier in Norway. Did Paul also serve? He was on the older side to join the Civil War and I'm wondering if he had previous experience,