Charles Robert Coster (c. 1837 – December 23, 1888)[1] was an American soldier and public official, who is best known for commanding a brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg.
[4] His grandfather, John Gerard Coster,[5] 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.
[6] 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.
[9] 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.
[10] 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.
[11] When the Union right flank north of town began to collapse, Howard permitted von Steinwehr to send Coster's brigade to cover its retreat.
Howard commended Coster and other senior commanders by name for their courage and devotion to duty in his report on Gettysburg.