Duffié, Alfred Napoleon, 1835-1880

Duffié was born in Paris. Several claims about his early life seem to be untrue: that he graduated from the École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, that he fought in the Austro-Italian War of 1859, that he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur though he wore it in several photographs, or that his father was a count. It is known that Duffié joined France's Imperial Cavalry in 1852, being assigned to the 6th Dragoon Regiment. As a member of this unit, he served during the Crimean War, seeing action at the Battle of Balaclava and the Battle of Chernaya River. He proved to be a skilled non-commissioned officer and rose through the ranks. In 1859, Duffié earned a commission as a sub-lieutenant with the 3rd Hussar cavalry regiment. However, for unclear reasons, he soon resigned his commission and left France for the United States. For leaving the army before his resignation was accepted, Duffié was charged with desertion and sentenced in absentia to ten years of imprisonment. After coming to the United States he married into a prominent New York family, making his new home on Staten Island.

When the American Civil War broke out, Duffié enlisted in the Union Army. He first joined the 2nd New York Cavalry Regiment (also known as the Harris Light Cavalry), on August 9, 1861, and was soon promoted to the rank of captain. The somewhat quarrelsome Duffié was placed under arrest several times for confrontations with other officers; in one incident, he challenged General Fitz John Porter to a duel. In July 1862 Duffié was appointed to command the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry Regiment, with the rank of colonel, by that state's governor, William Sprague IV. Though the 1st Rhode Island's officers initially refused to serve under a foreign-born leader, Duffié soon won them over and reorganized the regiment into a fine fighting unit. Assigned to the command of General William Averell, they saw action against Confederate troops under Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson in August 1862, in fighting near Cedar Mountain, Virginia.

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