Luigi Palma di Cesnola

Luigi Palma di Cesnola
Cesnola circa 1900
Born	(1832-07-29)July 29, 1832 Rivarolo Canavese, Italy
Died	November 20, 1904(1904-11-20) (aged 72) New York City
Place of burial	Kensico Cemetery Valhalla, New York
Allegiance	Kingdom of Sardinia  United Kingdom United States of America
Service/branch	Sardinian Army  British Army  United States Army
Years of service	1849–1854 (Sardinia) 1854–1856 (UK) 1862–1865 (USA)
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	4th New York Cavalry
Battles/wars	First Italian War of Independence Crimean War American Civil War
Awards	Medal of Honor

Luigi Palma di Cesnola (July 29, 1832 – November 20, 1904), an Italian-American soldier, diplomat and amateur archaeologist, was born in Rivarolo Canavese, near Turin. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Civil War. He was United States consul at Larnaca in Cyprus (1865–1877) and first Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1879–1904).

Luigi Palma di Cesnola was born the second son of a count and military officer at Rivarolo Canavese, Piedmont, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, Italy. His uncle was Italian patriot Alerino Palma, and his brother was Alessandro Palma di Cesnola.

In 1848 Luigi joined the Sardinian army at the age of 15, and served in the First Italian War of Independence. During the battle of Novara on 23 March 1849, he was decorated for bravery and promoted to the rank of second lieutenant. He graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Cherasco in 1851. In 1854 he was dismissed for unknown reasons, and subsequently served with the British Army in the Crimean War as the aide-de-camp to General Enrico Fardella.

In 1858 he went to New York, where he first taught Italian and French. In February 1861 he married Mary Isabel Reid, the daughter of war hero Commodore Samuel Chester Reid. He then founded a private military school for officers, where in six months he trained over seven hundred students. Since 1862, he took part in the American Civil War as colonel of the 4th New York Cavalry Regiment, serving under the name Louis P. di Cesnola. At the Battle of Aldie (June 1863), Colonel di Cesnola was wounded and taken prisoner. He received a Medal of Honor for his efforts during the battle. He was released from Libby Prison early in 1864 when the Union Agent for Prisoner Exchange offered a personal friend of Jefferson Davis as barter. He served in the Wilderness and Petersburg campaigns (1864–65) as a commander of a cavalry brigade but was not promoted to brigadier general. Although he was nominated for appointment to the brevet grade of brigadier general to rank from March 13, 1865 after the end of the war, the U.S. Senate never confirmed his appointment (contrary to the inscription on his grave stone).