Prior to the Civil War, Dreux had served as district attorney and a member of the Louisiana state legislature.

[2] According to Grace King, those who knew him described him "as a man of great personal magnetism; brilliant, eloquent, dashing."

[3] A monument to Dreux is located in New Orleans at the intersection of Canal Street and South Jefferson Davis Parkway.

The text on the monument reads: Col. Charles Didier Dreux Born in New Orleans May 11, 1832 First Con.

Officer from Louisianakilled in the War betweenthe States on the field ofhonor near Newport News Va.on July 5, 1861His last words were"Boys steady"Nobler braver never livedVandalism to the statue includes having its nose was chiseled off in 2017,[4][5] being covered in a white hood and spray-painted with obscenities in 2018,[6] and being pulled down in 2020.