Luigi Palma di Cesnola

Under arrest and unarmed, he led the charge at Aldie anyway!

Emanuele Pietro Paolo Maria Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832–1904), commonly known as Luigi Palma di Cesnola, was an Italian-born American cavalry officer, Medal of Honor recipient, diplomat, and archaeological collector who became the first director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. His military distinction arose from his conduct at the Battle of Aldie, Virginia, on June 17, 1863, when he rallied his regiment and participated in a renewed cavalry charge while unarmed and under arrest. Severely wounded and captured during the engagement, he received the Medal of Honor more than three decades later, on December 6, 1897.

Cesnola was born in 1832 in Rivarolo Canavese, near Turin, in the Kingdom of Sardinia. He belonged to a Piedmontese family with a tradition of military and political involvement. As a young man, he entered military service during the First Italian War of Independence and subsequently received training at military institutions in northern Italy. He served in the Sardinian Army and later joined the Anglo-Italian Legion during the Crimean War, where he served as an aide-de-camp to Colonel Enrico Fardella di Torrearsa.

Following his European military service, Cesnola spent time engaged in commercial activities before moving to the United States around the late 1850s. He established himself in New York, where he taught languages and music. Among his students was Mary Isabel Reid, daughter of Commodore Samuel Chester Reid, a United States naval officer remembered for his service during the War of 1812. Cesnola and Mary married in June 1861.

The outbreak of the American Civil War provided Cesnola with an opportunity to apply his military experience. With his wife's assistance, he established a school in New York to train prospective Union officers. In October 1861, he received an appointment as a major in the 11th New York Cavalry and subsequently advanced to lieutenant colonel. His service in that regiment was marked by disagreements with its commanding officer, and he later transferred to another command.

During the summer of 1862, Cesnola became colonel of the 4th New York Volunteer Cavalry. The regiment served in Virginia as part of the Union cavalry forces. By the winter of 1862–1863, Cesnola was commanding the regiment at Stafford Court House, Virginia. His command eventually became part of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac.

The defining event of Cesnola's military career occurred during the Battle of Aldie on June 17, 1863. Union and Confederate cavalry were engaged in fighting in northern Virginia as the opposing armies maneuvered during the opening stages of the Gettysburg Campaign. Cesnola's regiment participated in the action, where his conduct would later receive formal recognition.

At the time of the engagement, Cesnola was under arrest following a dispute involving his military superiors. When he saw his regiment falling back, he intervened to rally his soldiers. Although he had been deprived of his weapons, he accompanied the regiment in a second charge against Confederate forces.

His Medal of Honor citation records that he was released from arrest in recognition of his gallantry. Cesnola continued participating in the fighting at the head of his regiment until he was severely wounded and captured by Confederate troops.

The encounter ended his immediate participation in the campaign. Following his capture, Cesnola was taken to Richmond, Virginia, and imprisoned at Libby Prison, a Confederate military prison that held captured Union officers. He remained a prisoner for approximately ten months. Surviving correspondence from his imprisonment includes letters written to his wife between September 1863 and March 1864, providing documentary evidence of this period of his life.

Cesnola was released through a prisoner exchange on March 30, 1864. After recovering sufficiently to resume military responsibilities, he returned to Union service. His subsequent assignments included duties at Belle Plain, Virginia, and operations associated with Union cavalry forces during the later stages of the war. He also served in connection with cavalry operations in the Shenandoah Valley. His service with the 4th New York Cavalry ended in September 1864, following the expiration of the regiment's term of service.

Cesnola's bravery at Aldie was formally recognized on December 6, 1897, when he received the Medal of Honor. The award acknowledged his actions as colonel of the 4th New York Cavalry on June 17, 1863, particularly his decision to rally his men and accompany them in a renewed charge despite being under arrest and without weapons. His severe wounding and capture during the same engagement formed part of the officially documented circumstances of his gallantry.

Following the Civil War, Cesnola entered diplomatic service. In 1865, he was appointed United States consul to Cyprus, then under Ottoman administration. While carrying out his consular duties, he developed an extensive interest in the island's ancient history and archaeological remains.

Beginning in the 1860s, Cesnola conducted excavations and acquired antiquities from numerous locations across Cyprus. His activities included collecting ancient sculpture, pottery, glass, jewelry, bronzes, and other archaeological objects. Over the following years, he assembled a substantial collection that attracted interest from European museums and collectors.

Cesnola initially explored possibilities for transferring his collection to major institutions in France and Russia. Eventually, the newly established Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York acquired significant portions of his Cypriot antiquities during the 1870s. These acquisitions helped establish the museum's early holdings of ancient Mediterranean art.

In 1877, Cesnola became a member of the museum's governing body and was elected its secretary. Two years later, in 1879, he became the Metropolitan Museum of Art's first director, beginning an appointment that he would hold until his death.

During his directorship, the museum moved into its Fifth Avenue building adjoining Central Park in 1880. Cesnola oversaw the installation and presentation of collections, the expansion of museum facilities, and efforts to increase membership and financial support. The institution also acquired significant paintings, decorative arts, and other collections during his administration.

His archaeological methods and the presentation of certain reconstructed antiquities became subjects of controversy. In 1880, art dealer Gaston Feuardent publicly challenged the authenticity and restoration of objects in the Cesnola Collection. The dispute led to investigations and litigation. Cesnola defended his work, and a committee established by the museum supported his position. Nevertheless, questions surrounding the excavation, restoration, and documentation of the objects remained part of the historical assessment of his archaeological activities.

Cesnola also published accounts of his discoveries and the collection. His book *Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples* appeared in the late 1870s, followed by *A Descriptive Atlas of the Cesnola Collection of Cypriote Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art*, issued in volumes beginning in 1885. These publications documented objects acquired during his years in Cyprus and their subsequent presentation in New York.

Luigi Palma di Cesnola died in New York City on November 20, 1904, at the age of seventy-two. He was buried in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

His recorded career encompassed military service in Europe and the United States, captivity during the American Civil War, diplomatic work in Cyprus, and twenty-five years as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His Medal of Honor commemorates the specific gallantry he displayed at Aldie in 1863, while the extensive Cypriot antiquities collection associated with his name remains an important component of the museum's holdings and a subject of continuing archaeological and historical study.