Trivia 2-19-19 Who Was He?

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Philip Kearny (1 June 1815 – 1 September 1862) Kearny was awarded the French Legion of Honor for gallantry at Solferino in 1859 being the first American so honored. wiki/Philip_Kearny

According to this source, he had been previously offered the French Legion of Honor for his service in North Africa, where he saw action with the Chasseurs d’Afrique. But because he was an officer of the United States, he was obligated to refuse it at that time. https://armyhistory.org/major-general-philip-kearny/
 
For a while, a strong contender was Philip Kearny, but according to http://www.nndb.com/people/117/000049967/ he received the honor for his conduct at Solferino, and the Battle of Solferino took place in 1859 - so after Maury got his award, whether it was 1855 or 1858 doesn't matter in that instant.
I now found a post by @Drew that says:
He was the first American to be awarded France's Legion d'honneur for military service.
He = Philip Kearny. But @Drew gives no source in that thread.

I'm now wondering: Is @SWMODave asking for the first American receiving the honor for military service or the first officer receiving the honor, no matter for what he received it? Because Maury got the honor for his 1855 treatise The Physical Geography of the Seas and Its Meteorology, not for military service. But he was an officer of the US Navy at that time, and http://www.nndb.com/honors/139/000048992/ lists Maury's occupation as military.

Since the question clearly reads "the first US officer" and not "for military service" I'm staying with Maury as my answer.

Edit - Philip Kearny is the correct answer, for the reason cited in my edit to post # 14.

hoosier
 
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Alexander Graham Bell.

I don't know if the question was intended to ask for somebody who served as an officer in the Union or Confederate military during the Civil War. If it was, then Bell isn't the correct answer.

However, there are five degrees of the Legion of Honor, one of which is "Officer." Bell was given the degree of Officer in 1881. Since I can't come up with the name of any Civil War military officer who received the Legion of Honor, I'm going with Bell as my answer.
 
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