The Coster Avenue Mural

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 134th New York, 154th New York, and the 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 (see map at right), 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 (pictured top left), historian of the 154th New York. The final mural was painted by Rhode Island artist Johan Bjurman (top right), 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 (pictured at bottom), 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 Dunkleman that autumn. Many thanks to Ed Bearss and his followers (and other friends) for enabling the restoration of the mural.