Charles A. Coolidge

Charles Austin Coolidge, Jr. (July 19, 1844 – June 1, 1926) was a United States Army soldier who served in the American Civil War, the American West, Spanish–American War, and in Asia before retiring in 1903 as a brigadier general. Early life, education & marriage Charles Austin Coolidge, Jr. was born on July 19, 1844, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Charles Austin Coolidge, Sr. and Anna Maria (Rice) Coolidge. He attended Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, from 1859 to 1861; in 1903 Norwich conferred his bachelor's degree as a member of the class of 1863. Later he received his M.D. from the Wooster Medical College in Wooster, Ohio. He married Sophia Wager Lowry in Tallahassee, Florida, on 19 November 1867; she was the daughter of Philip Lowry and Caroline Tilghman of Philadelphia. Military career On 23 Oct 1862, Coolidge enlisted in the United States Army as a private in the 16th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. In May 1864 he was appointed Second Lieutenant of the Seventh Infantry Regiment. The Seventh at that time was on duty in New York, having just come from Gettysburg for the draft riots. Following a month of service at City Point, Virginia, the regiment remained at New York harbor until the end of the war. The regiment was then sent to Florida for the next five years. After his unit was transferred to the American West in 1870, Lieutenant Coolidge was a member of Captain Rawn's command of ~25 regulars which opposed and stalled Chief Looking Glass' Nez Percé Indians at Lolo Pass. He was wounded in this campaign at the Battle of the Big Hole on August 9, 1877. Later when appointed a Captain, he served in Montana, Dakota Territory, Fort Snelling, Fort D.A. Russell (Wyoming), Rock Springs, Wyoming, and Fort Logan near Denver, Colorado.