Philippe Régis Denis de Keredern de Trobriand (June 4, 1816 – July 15, 1897) was a French aristocrat, lawyer, poet, and novelist who, on a dare, emigrated in his 20s to the United States, settling first in New York City. During the American Civil War, he became naturalized, was commissioned and served in the Union Army, reaching the rank of Major general. While serving as the commander of Fort Stevenson in Dakota Territory from 1867 to 1870, he was promoted to the brevet grade of brigadier general in the regular army in 1868. During Reconstruction, Trobriand was part of the occupation forces in Louisiana and was based in New Orleans, where he lived from 1875 on, retiring from the Army in 1879. Early life Trobriand was born at Chateau des Rochettes, near Tours, France, the son of Joseph de Keredern de Trobriand, a baron who had been a general in Napoleon Bonaparte's army, in a family with a long tradition of military service. His mother was Rosine Hachin de Courbeville. In his youth, Trobriand completed a baccalaureate at the College of Saint-Louis in Paris, followed by studying law. He wrote poetry and prose, publishing his first novel, Gentlemen of the West in 1840 in Paris. His father's service to the previous king, Charles X, meant that Trobriand was excluded from serving the new one, Louis Philippe, after the July Revolution of 1830. Trobriand became an expert swordsman who fought a number of duels. In 1841, to answer a dare, Trobriand emigrated to the United States at the age of 25 and immediately became popular as a bon vivant with the social elite of New York City. He published his second novel, The Rebel, in New York in 1841. He married heiress Mary Mason Jones, whom he met in New York, where her father Isaac Jones was a wealthy banker; their wedding was in Paris. After they lived in Venice for a time, socializing with the local nobility, they returned to the United States. They took up permanent residence in New York. They had two daughters, Marie-Caroline and Beatrice. In the 1850s Trobriand earned a living writing and editing for French-language publications. He was the editor and publisher of Revue du Nouveau Monde (1849 to 1850) and joint editor of Le Courrier des Etats-Unis (1854 to 1861). Civil War After the Civil War broke out, Trobriand became a naturalized citizen of