Fort DeRussy in Honolulu is one of five Forts DeRussy in the United States. There is one in Louisiana, one in Kentucky, and one in Washington, D.C.: these four were all built during the American Civil War. This one was named for General René Edward De Russy (1789–1865), who supervised military fort construction and was also Superintendent of West Point during his career. Coming as children with their family to the United States as refugees from Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), both René and his younger brother Louis grew up in Virginia and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. At advanced ages, both served during the American Civil War: René on the Union side and Louis in the Confederate Army, the oldest West Point graduate to serve in it.
