Charles Coster

Coster was born in New York City. He was the son of John H. Coster and Sarah Adeline (née Boardman) Coster,{{cite book |last1=Goldthwaite |first1=Charlotte |title=Boardman Genealogy, 1525–1895 : the English home and ancestry of Samuel Boreman, Wethersfield, Conn., Thomas Boreman, Ipswich, Mass. |date=1895 |publisher=[S.l.] : W.F.J. Boardman |page=[https://archive.org/details/boardmangenealog00gold/page/332 332] |url=https://archive.org/details/boardmangenealog00gold |access-date=January 13, 2019}} He was also a first cousin of New York clubman, Harry Coster.{{cite book |last1=Schroeder |first1=John Frederick |title=Memoir of the life and character of Mrs. Mary Anna Boardman: with a historical account of her forefathers, and biographical and genealogical notices of many of her kindred and relatives |date=1849 |publisher=Printed for private distribution |page=[https://archive.org/details/memoirlifeandch01schrgoog/page/n438 431] |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirlifeandch01schrgoog |access-date=January 13, 2019 |language=en}} His father, better known as a playboy before a businessman, was one of twelve children that married into many prominent families.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Tom |title=The Lost Coster Mansion – Nos. 539–541 Broadway |url=https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-lost-coster-mansion-nos-539-541.html |access-date=January 13, 2019 |work=Daytonian in Manhattan |date=November 21, 2016}}

His grandfather, John Gerard Coster,{{cite book |last1=Townsend |first1=Annette |title=The Auchmuty family of Scotland and America. |date=1932 |publisher=The Grafton Press |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/auchmutyfamilyof00town/page/257 257]–260 |url=https://archive.org/details/auchmutyfamilyof00town |access-date=January 6, 2019}} came from Haarlem in the Netherlands to the United States shortly after the Revolutionary War and founded the family fortune through the mercantile firm, "Henry A. & John G. Coster".{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Richard Henry |last2=Stiles |first2=Henry Reed |last3=Dwight |first3=Melatiah Everett |last4=Morrison |first4=George Austin |last5=Mott |first5=Hopper Striker |last6=Totten |first6=John Reynolds |last7=Pitman |first7=Harold Minot |last8=Forest |first8=Louis Effingham De |last9=Ditmas |first9=Charles Andrew |last10=Mann |first10=Conklin |last11=Maynard |first11=Arthur S. |title=The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record |date=1919 |publisher=New York Genealogical and Biographical Society |page=305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdgUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA305 |access-date=January 6, 2019 |language=en}}

On April 17, 1861, just five days after the firing on Fort Sumter, he enlisted as a private in the 7th New York Militia, one of the first regiments to come to the defense of Washington, D.C. at the outbreak of the Civil War.Conklin, George W. (1999). Under the Crescent and Star: The 134th New York Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, p. 31. Axworthy Publishing. {{ISBN|0-9674985-0-3}}. He later enlisted in 1861 at age 24 as a first lieutenant in 12th U.S. Infantry. Conklin, George W., "Under the Crescent and Star: The 134th New York Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War", Port Reading, New Jersey: Axworthy Publishing, 1999, {{ISBN|0-9674985-0-3}}. He served in Brig. Gen. George Sykes's division of V Corps in the Seven Days Battles, being commended by his superiors for his conduct at the Battle of Gaines' Mill on June 27, 1862.

On October 8, 1862, Coster was named colonel of the recently organized 134th New York Volunteer Infantry.{{cite web|url=http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/134thInf/134thInfMain.htm |title=134th NY Infantry Regiment during the Civil War |publisher=NY Military Museum and Veterans Research Center |access-date=October 25, 2008}} By December 31, 1862, the regiment belonged to Col. Orland Smith's 2nd Brigade of Maj. Gen. Adolph von Steinwehr's 2nd Division, XI Corps, Army of the Potomac. Coster's regiment participated in the Battle of Chancellorsville under Brig. Gen. Francis C. Barlow, who had been appointed brigade commander in place of Smith. During May 1863, Coster's regiment joined the 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, under Col. Adolphus Buschbeck. When Buschbeck went on leave on June 10, Coster became brigade commander. In that role he patrolled near Boonsboro, Maryland before marching to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.U.S. War Department, [http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm The War of the Rebellion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913062844/http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/sources/records/list.cfm |date=September 13, 2009 }}: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.

Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard kept von Steinwehr's division in reserve on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, positioning it on Cemetery Hill.Pfanz, Harry W., Gettysburg—the First Day, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8078-2624-3}}. When the Union right flank north of town began to collapse, Howard permitted von Steinwehr to send Coster's brigade to cover its retreat. These Union troops took a position just north of the town, where they were deployed in a brickyard. The brigade was attacked by superior forces from the Confederate division of Maj. Gen. Jubal Early. Coster's brigade lost most of its 597 casualties in that action. The remainder of the brigade spent the next two days supporting batteries on Cemetery Hill. Howard commended Coster and other senior commanders by name for their courage and devotion to duty in his report on Gettysburg.O.R., series I, vol. 27, pt. 1, p. 706.

Later in 1863, Coster resigned his regimental command. On May 18, 1864, he was appointed a provost marshal for the State of New York to serve the Board of Enrollment. Coster resigned that position on April 30, 1865. Thereafter he lived in New York City. On February 28, 1882, he became a federal Pension Agent for the city, resigning effective December 1, 1885. He was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of Rebellion: Compiled and Arranged From Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of the Adjutant Generals of the Several States, The Army Registers and Other Reliable Documents and Sources, Des Moines, Iowa: Dyer Publishing, 1908 (reprinted by Morningside Books, 1978), {{ISBN|978-0-89029-046-0}}.

In 1864,{{cite web |title=NYC Marriage & Death Notices 1857–1868 |url=https://www.nysoclib.org/collection/nyc-marriage-death-notices-1857-1868 |website=www.nysoclib.org |publisher=New York Society Library |access-date=January 13, 2019}} Coster was married to Marie Bay James (1841–1904),{{cite news |title=MRS. COSTER'S ODD DEATH. Body Found in Foot of Water in Larchmont Reservoir. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/01/120288727.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=October 1, 1904}} Marie was the daughter of Augustus J. James of Albany, and the niece of theologian Henry James Sr.,{{cite book |last1=James |first1=William |last2=James |first2=Henry |title=William and Henry James: Selected Letters |date=1997 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=9780813916941 |page=542 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PH6r8rF2FHQC&pg=PA542 |access-date=January 13, 2019 |language=en}} which made Marie a first cousin of author Henry James, psychologist William James, and diarist Alice James.{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Henry |title=Henry James: Autobiographies (LOA #274) Brother / The Middle Years / Other Writings: A Small Boy and Others / Notes of a Son and Brother / The Middle Years / Other Writings |date=2016 |publisher=Library of America |isbn=9781598534726 |page=1311 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bB7wCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT1311 |access-date=January 13, 2019 |language=en}} Together, Marie and Charles were the parents of four children:

• Charles Coster (1866-1908) - married Helen Louise Anthon (1866-1951). 1 child
• William Bay Coster (1867–1918), a banker.{{cite news |title=WHAT IS DOING IN SOCIETY. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/08/31/101065266.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=August 31, 1900}} - married Maria Griswold Gray (1868-1947). 3 children
• Adeline Boardman Coster (1871-1946) - married Henry Dickerson Steers (1865-1928). 2 children
• Elizabeth Mary Coster (1877-1946) - married Alfred Egmont Schermerhorn (1871-1932). 1 child

Coster died in New York City on December 23, 1888.{{cite news |title=OBITUARY {{!}} CHARLES ROBERT COSTER |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1888/12/25/106202905.pdf |access-date=January 13, 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=December 25, 1888}} He was buried on December 26, 1888.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/12/27/archives/funeral-of-col-charles-r-coster.html |title=Funeral of Col. Charles R. Coster. |work=New York Times |page=8 |date=December 27, 1888 |access-date=October 25, 2008}}

Coster Avenue, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield but within the town itself, has a brigade marker and three regimental monuments. A mural painting on the wall of a neighboring building commemorates the Confederate attack and Coster's defense.{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwaralbum.com/gettysburg/coster_mural1.htm#Enlarge |title=Coster Avenue Mural |work=Photo Album |location=Gettysburg, PA |publisher=Civilwaralbum.com |year=2003 |access-date=October 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003024724/http://www.civilwaralbum.com/gettysburg/coster_mural1.htm#Enlarge |archive-date=October 3, 2008 |url-status=dead }}

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Category:1830s births

Category:1888 deaths

Category:Union army colonels

Category:People of New York (state) in the American Civil War

Category:Year of birth unknown