BGuthrie Photos: PA -- Gettysburg Natl Battlefield -- Day 1 -- Coster Avenue

PA -- Gettysburg Natl Battlefield -- Day 1 -- Coster Avenue:

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[1] GETCOS_121111_02_STITCH.JPG

[2] GETCOS_121111_04_STITCH.JPG

[3] GETCOS_121111_05.JPG	[4] GETCOS_121111_11.JPG	[5] GETCOS_121111_24.JPG
[6] GETCOS_121111_31.JPG	[7] GETCOS_121111_37.JPG	[8] GETCOS_121111_43.JPG
[9] GETCOS_121111_48.JPG	[10] GETCOS_121111_52.JPG	[11] GETCOS_121111_63.JPG
[12] GETCOS_121111_70.JPG	[13] GETCOS_121111_74.JPG	[14] GETCOS_121111_81.JPG
[15] GETCOS_121111_91.JPG	[16] GETCOS_121111_93.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GETCOS_121111_24.JPG: The Coster Avenue Mural: The Coster Avenue Mural depicts the fight between the Union brigade of Col. Charles R. Coster and the Confederate brigades of Brig. Gen. Harry T. Hays and Col. Isaac E. Avery on the afternoon of July 1, 1863. Coster's three small regiments (the 184th New York, 154th New York, and 27th Pennsylvania) were rushed to this position from Cemetery Hill to cover the retreat of the Eleventh Corps. They took position behind fences in John Kuhn's brickyard, and were immediately attacked by Hays's (the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Louisiana) and Avery's (the 6th, 21st, and 57th North Carolina) regiments. Outnumbered approximately three to one and outflanked on both ends of their line, Coster's men were driven from the brickyard with great loss, after a brave but brief struggle. One of Avery's regimental commanders reported attacking the brickyard fence with "the enemy stubbornly holding their position until we climbed over into their midst." It is this climactic moment of the battle that the mural depicts. The Coster Avenue Mural was conceived, researched, designed, and funded by author and artist Mark H. Dunkelman, historian of the 154th New York. The final mural was painted by Rhode Island artist Johan Bjurman, who also supervised its construction and installation,and Dunkelman. The mural was dedicated on July 1, 1988, the 125th anniversary of the battle it portrays, in honor of the memory of the men of Coster, Hays, and Avery. After more than a decade of exposure to the elements, the mural was in need of a restoration. Financing for the work was generously provided by the "Bearss Brigade" and other friends of the painting. The "Bearss Brigade" consists of friends and followers of Edwin C. Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, widely published author, and the most legendary battlefield guide in the United States. each year, the "Bearss Brigade" makes a substantial contribution to the Civil War preservation effort of Ed's choice, and in 2001 he picked the Coster Avenue Mural as the beneficiary of their generosity. The restoration work was done by Johan Bjurman and Mark Dunkelman that autumn. Many thanks to Ed Bearss and his followers (and other friends) for enabling the restoration of the mural. For more information about the mural and its historical background, consult the 1989 booklet "The Coster Avenue Mural in Gettysburg" by Mark H. Dunkelman, on sale at the Gettysburg National Military Park Bookstore. Booklet proceeds go to the mural's upkeep.
2. GETCOS_121111_74.JPG: 134th Regiment New York Infantry Lieut. Colonel A. H. Jackson commanding. 1st Brigade, Colonel Charles R. Coster. 2d Division Brigadier General A. Von Steinwehr. 11th Corps Major General O. O. Howard July 1st 1863 The regiment with the brigade was thrown forward to check the rapid advance of Hay's and Hoke's Brigades of Early's Division Ewells Corps and protect Barlow's Division that was being hard pressed the Confederate line of battle outflanking the brigade in overwhelming numbers. The 134th Regiment occupying the extreme right of the Union line was crushed by the impact and and the flank and rear firing of that desperate charge. The regimental monument on East Cemetery Hill is on the ground occupied July 2d and 3d. This tablet marks the position where its casualties were greatest of any battle in which it was ever engaged. Loss at Gettysburg July 1st. 252
3. GETCOS_121111_91.JPG: Army of the Potomac Eleventh Corps Second Division First Brigade Col. Charles R. Coster 134th 154th NewYork 27th 73d Pennsylvania Infantry July 1. Arrived about 2 P. M. and went into position on Cemetery Hill supporting Battery I 1st New York. Skirmishers occupying a church and near by house. Advanced about 3.30 P. M. through the town and faced to the right and intercepted the advance of Brig. Gen. Hays's and Brig. Gen. Hoke's Brigades Major Gen. Early's Division they moving toward town in rear of First Division Eleventh Corps and held them from the line of retreat of that Division to Cemetery Hill. Retired to East Cemetery Hill about 4.30 P. M. and resumed former position on the right of Second Brigade with Third Division on the right. July 2. In same position during the day under fire of artillery and sharpshooters. At 8 P. M. Brig. Gen. Hays's Brigade charged the position and was repulsed with heavy loss. The 27th Penna. bore a conspicuous part in repelling this attack. Battery I 1st New York was temporarily captured but was immediately recovered. July 3. Not actively engaged. Casualties Killed 3 Officers 53 Men Wounded 8 Officers 220 Men Captured or Missing 12 Officers 301 Men Total 597
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Description of Subject Matter: Nestled in the suburban streets of northeast Gettysburg is Coster Avenue, a narrow strip of property significant for the three regimental monuments and brigade tablet located here. The avenue is named for Colonel Charles Coster and marks the position of his brigade of the Eleventh Corps that stood at this spot on the afternoon of July 1, 1863. At the time of the battle this area was a open farmland interspersed by rail and board fences that enclosed pastures and small fields of corn, rye and oats. Adjacent to this strip of land was a tall rail fence that bordered a small brickyard, a factory where bricks were made for many of the homes in Gettysburg. Post-Civil War growth drastically changed this portion of the battlefield, making Coster Avenue into an island of monuments surrounded by houses and businesses.

The quiet of this avenue today contrasts with the desperate stand Coster's brigade made against overwhelming numbers of Confederates from Jubal Early's division on the afternoon of July 1, they being some of the last Union troops to leave this part of the field.

Having received orders to support the right flank of Barlow's 1st Division engaged in the fields north of the county poor farm, Coster's three regiments- the 27th Pennsylvania, 154th New York, and 134th New York- raced through Gettysburg from Cemetery Hill and stumbled into the brickyard where they loaded their rifles and waited for the inevitable attack. From this point, Colonel Coster saw that Barlow's men were already heavily engaged and his line crumbling under the weight of the Confederate assault. The anxiety running through the ranks of the men must have terrible to witness. Ahead of them was the spectacle of the 1st Division of their corps being pounced upon and breaking into a rout by what appeared to be thousands of Confederate troops. It was not long before the tops of Confederate battleflags rose from the ground in front of Coster's soldiers. Surrounding each flag were determined southerners who moved up the gentle slope of the knoll toward the brickyard, finally raising their "Rebel yell" when they spied the Union troops. Charles McKay, a soldier of the 154th New York remembered, "I shall never always remember how the Confederate line of battle looked as it came into full view and started down toward us. It seemed... they had a battle flag every few rods... their formation in solid column. However our fire did good execution when we opened, and their line was stopped in front."*

Positioned on the left of Coster's men, Captain Lewis Heckman's Battery K, 1st Ohio Light Artillery was just then pulling into position. "The enemy was already in range," Heckman reported as his Buckeye artillerymen went to work. "I unlimbered and commenced firing as soon as possible, as the enemy were close to me and advancing. My battery was engaged thirty minutes... (and) expended 113 rounds of ammunition, mostly canister."
Colonel Isaac Avery, 6th NC

Despite the artillery fire on these Southern formations, the fields around Coster's Brigade quickly filled with yelling, shooting Confederates. These were men of Hoke's Brigade, commanded at Gettysburg by the dashing Colonel Isaac Avery. "Colonel Avery now gave the order to double quick," reported Colonel Godwin of the 57th North Carolina, whose regiment was one of three to strike Coster. "The brigade gallantly dashed... up the hill to the fence, the enemy stubbornly holding their position until we had climbed over into their midst." First to be thrown back was Coster's right regiment and then the left gave way, leaving only the 154th New York Infantry stubbornly holding onto their section of fence. Racing forward, the 21st and 57th North Carolina regiments charged and lept over the fence. Nearly surrounded, the New Yorkers began to slowly fall back before turning to run with other fleeing soldiers toward Gettysburg.

Heckman's Ohio Battery was now in a bad fix, exposed to a flank attack by Avery's victorious Carolinians. Seeing that his battery was about to be overrun, Heckman ordered the gunners to limber up and retreat, though it came too late for two guns and their crews who fell into the hands of the 6th North Carolina Infantry. Drivers of the four remaining cannon frantically lashed the horses and drove the caissons and limbers into the growing throng of Eleventh Corps troops crowding Carlisle Street, blood from some of the wounded horses spattering the men as they passed. The horrible sight and warm blood panicked several men who dashed ahead screaming of imagined disaster, spreading confusion and panic to others. Orderly columns deteriorated into a mob as the Eleventh Corps stormed into the streets of Gettysburg. As one survivor put it, "The few that did get away were the best runners."* Troops of the First Corps, which had been fighting west of town, were just then beginning their retreat through town and the streets of Gettysburg were quickly filled with a milling mass of blue-clad soldiers, exhausted and confused- only a few had been told to rally on Cemetery Hill and even fewer knew were that was.

*(Quotes are from Mark Dunkelman's The Hardtack Regiment, An Illustrated History of the 154th New York Regiment, Farleigh-Dickinson Press, 1981.)

The above was from http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/getttour/tstops/tstd-05ca.htm
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