Luigi Palma di Cesnola

FACES IN HISTORY Luigi Palma di Cesnola: Officer, Author and Museum Director

The first Italian American to receive the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor

Luigi Palma di Cesnola was born on June 28, 1832, the son of a count and military officer, in Rivarolo Canavese, (near Turin) Piedmont.

In 1848, Luigi joined the army at the age of 15, and served in theFirst Italian War of Independence. During the battle of Novara in 1849, he was decorated for bravery and promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. After graduating from the Royal Military Academy at Cherasco in 1851, he served with the Italian force in the Crimean War of 1855, rising to the rank of first lieutenant. He was decorated by the king.

Writing to a friend about his brothers he stated that they “could stay home and live off Mother’s fortune on Rivarolo, but I am going to make my own.”

In 1858, he landed inNew York,where he first taught Italian and French. In February 1861, he married Mary Isabel Reid, daughter of war hero Commodore Samuel Chester Reid. (Reid helped design the 1818 version of the U.S. flag, which first established the use of 13 stripes and a star for each state).

Luigi di Cesnola then founded a private military school for officers, where in six months he trained over 700 students. In 1862, he took part in theAmerican Civil Warascolonelof the 4th New York Cavalry Regiment, serving under the name Louis P. di Cesnola. The 4th New York was a multi-national regiment. This sometimes caused friction as they often lacked cohesion and

Luigi Palma di Cesnola

unity, but di Cesnola whipped them into shape and they fought with bravery at Brandy Station, Virginia.

The unit, with di Cesnola commanding a brigade, also fought at Berryville, Chantilly, and Aldie Gap, Virginia. At the Battle of Aldie in June 1863, Colonel di Cesnola was wounded and taken prisoner. Di Cesnola later received the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery “above and beyond the call of duty.” He was the first American of Italian descent to receive the honor.

A few days before his assassination, President Lincoln invited di Cesnola to Washington and promoted

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him to Brevet General. He became a U.S. citizen and Lincoln offered him the American Consulship at Larnaca, Cyprus. He remained Consul to Cyprus until 1877, when the Consulate was abolished.

During his stay in Cyprus he carried out several archeological excavations that resulted in the discovery of a large number of antiquities, which he sent to the United States. The collection was purchased by the newly-expandedMetropolitan Museum of Artin New York. Di Cesnola became the museum's first director in 1879, and remained there until his death in 1904.

Di Cesnola was the author ofCyprus, Its Ancient Cities, Tombs and Temples (1877), and A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities (3 volumes, 1884–1886). He received honorary degrees from Columbia and Princeton universities, and a special knightly order from the king of Italy. He was a member of several learned societies in Europe and America. He died in New York City on November 20, 1904.

--Fr. Ezio Marchetto

Note: Information based on internet reporting and the article “An Officer and a Gentleman” by Rudy A. D’Angelo, in The Ambassador magazine, Fall 1998.

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