Early Life and Service
Coster was born in New York City, New York. 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, DC at the outbreak of the Civil War. He later enlisted in 1861 at age 24 as a first lieutenant in 12th U. S. Infantry. 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 Infantry Regiment. 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.
Read more about this topic: Charles Coster
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or service:
“Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead.”
—James Thurber (1894–1961)
“Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, there is no reason either in football or in poetry why the two should not meet in a man’s life if he has the weight and cares about the words.”
—Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982)
“You had to face your ends when young
‘Twas wine or women, or some curse
But never made a poorer song
That you might have a heavier purse,
Nor gave loud service to a cause
That you might have a troop of friends.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)