Augustus W. Colwell was born around 1837 in Greystone, Rhode Island, to William and Mahala Colwell. His father worked as a mill superintendent. He grew up and attended school in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He married Louisa M. Arnold, and they had at least two children: Frederick, born on September 9, 1858; and Charlotte, born around 1868.

 

He enlisted in the Union army in April 1861, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Company E of the 1^st Rhode Island Infantry. The regiment took part in the First Battle of Manassas, and he mustered out in August 1861. Soon afterward, he received a commission as a 1^st lieutenant in Battery F of the 3^rd Rhode Island Heavy Artillery. The regiment took part in the siege of Charleston and the Battle of Honey Hill. He was promoted to captain in November 1862, and he mustered out on August 27, 1865. According to an early biographer, he “earned the reputation of being a brave and gallant soldier and a true patriot.”

 

He settled in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, after the war, and he worked as an overseer at a cotton mill. By 1870, he owned $300 of personal property. He moved to North Smithfield, Rhode Island, in the 1870s. He applied for a federal pension in October 1883 and eventually received one. According to one biographer, “his constitution gradually gave way with advancing years, the decline in a measure being due to his military service.” Years of artillery fire, for example, damaged his hearing, and “he became almost entirely deaf.” His wife died on December 15, 1896, and he died in Woonsocket on October 2, 1897.

SOURCES