Adolphe Libaire

He came to America with his family in about 1845 at age 5. On 23 April 1861, by then 21 years old, he enrolled in New York City and mustered as Captain of Company E, 9th New York Infantry on 4 May.

At Antietam on 17 September 1862, after at least 8 color bearers had been shot:

It seemed instant death to carry the old flag that day; but the thought of duty was greater than the thought of danger, and as the flag went down the last time the gallant Libaire himself sprang forward in the midst of the reign of death and the horrors of hell, grasped the colors firmly in his hands, and with flashing eye and cheerful tone, cried at the top of his voice "Come on boys! Come on!" and never surrendered his hold until he had planted this American flag upon the stone wall the last defensive position the enemy's infantry held, while the remnant of our regiment pressed forward and drove the enemy's gunners from their cannon.

He mustered out with his Company on 20 May 1863 in New York City.

He was naturalized an American citizen on 23 October 1866 in New York City and was a broker and a member of the New York Stock Exchange from 1869 to 1908. He bought a shore cottage in Atlantic Highlands, NJ in 1901. By 1910 he was retired and living in Manhattan.

His service from the Adjutant General.1 He's often seen as Adolph Libaire. The quote above from Graham.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1880 and 1910. His cottage purchase from the Red Bank Register of 6 February 1901 [pdf]. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from from a photograph hosted online by the NY State Military Museum.

He married New Orleans-born Marie Latapie (1845-1923) in New York in May 1868 and they had at least 4 children.

The USCIS Field Office in Baltimore was dedicated to Captain Libaire in 2014.

05/02/1840; Baccarat, Lorraine, FRANCE

09/05/1920; in NY; burial in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY