The members of the GAR Wilson Colwell Post Number 38 (La Crosse, Wis.) named their post as a memorial to Captain Wilson Colwell from La Crosse, Wis. He was serving as mayor in April 1861 when he led a group of 119 men to be mustered in the Union Army at Madison, Wis. Thus was born Company B Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Colwell was killed in 1862 at the Battle of South Mountain.
The Post was organized in July 1882 and disbanded with the death of the last member in Sept. 1939. The Post provided financial aid and camaraderie to its members.
