Our Noble Blood : Major General Régis de Trobriand

Our Noble Blood: The Civil War Letters of Major-General Régis de Trobriand translated by Nathalie Chartrain and edited by William B. Styple

It was by accident, and not in the interests of balance, that I have read books by an English Confederate and a French Unionist back to back.

This second book gathers wartime correspondence (roughly June 1861–July 1865) of Philippe Régis Denis de Keredern de Trobriand, a Breton nobleman, man of letters, and eventual brevet major general in the Union army. The letters are addressed primarily to his daughter and offer a more intimate, day-to-day record than his better-known postwar memoir Four Years with the Army of the Potomac.

Trobriand’s ‘career’ path was unusual. An aristocrat who had already lived as a writer and journalist in the United States, he became a naturalized citizen, took command of the predominantly French 55th New York (“Garde de Lafayette”), rose through to brigade command, and saw major action in the eastern theatre: the Peninsula Campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg (where his brigade’s defense of the Wheatfield remains his best-known contribution), the Overland Campaign, Petersburg, and the final operations leading to Appomattox.

The letters capture camp life near Washington, the frustrations of winter quarters, illness, marches, skirmishes, official reports laced with dry humor, and the personal cost of prolonged separation from his family.

They are a fascinating selection of letters that gives us an insight to both the man and the soldier. On one level they are a military history seen from a mid-level commander’s vantage: observations on leadership, unit cohesion, the quality of volunteer troops, and the conduct of campaigns. On another it is a father’s ongoing conversation with his daughter: affectionate, advisory, occasionally reflective on lineage and duty. If you have read Trobriand’s published memoir you might notice that the letters are less polished and less shaped by later self-presentation. I suspect they may serve as a useful ‘complement’ to the more public account.

Overall, Our Noble Blood is a worthwhile addition to the library of anyone interested in the contributions of Europeans to the Civil War. Trobriand always stood out to me with his colourful aristocratic European background, literary sensibility, and combat record. If you’ve read his memoir or the Gettysburg narratives, the letters might give you a fresher and less curated perspective on Trobriand’s thougths and involvement.

Ryan Diamond