A marker was erected this week in Sayville on Long Island in New York marking where Brevet Major General Philippe Régis de Trobriand is buried in Suffolk County. Trobriand is well known to students of the American Civil War as a French aristocrat who immigrated to the United States as a young man. When the Civil War broke out, he naturalized and took command of the 55th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. In 1863 he took command of a brigade of the III Corps. In 1864 he was promoted to brigadier general. President Johnson made him a brevet major general.
After the war, de Trobriand served in the West and in New Orleans, where he was active in the suppression of the White League. He retired from the military in 1879, spending most of each year in New Orleans, but living in Bayport, Long Island in the summers. He passed away in 1897 and was buried at St. Ann’s Episcopal Cemetery in Sayville.
Note: The feature photo is from Newsday.
Follow Reconstruction Blog on Social Media:
