Enrico Cialdini, Duca di Gaeta (8 August 18118 September 1892) was an Italian soldier, politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or interna ...

Biography

He was born in Castelvetro, in the

province of Modena The Province of Modena ( it, Provincia di Modena) is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Modena. It has an area of and a total population of about 701,000 (2015). There are 48 ''comuni'' (singular: ''co ...

. In 1831 he took part in the insurrection at Modena, fleeing afterwards to Paris, whence he proceeded to Spain to fight against the

Carlists Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

. Returning to Italy in 1848, he commanded a regiment at the battle of Novara. In 1859, he organized the Alpine Brigade, fought at Palestro at the head of the 4th Division; in the following year invaded the Marche, won the battle of Castelfidardo, took

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

, and subsequently directed the Siege of Gaeta. For these services he was created ''

Duke of Gaeta This is a list of the hypati, patricians, consuls, and dukes of Gaeta. Many of the dates are uncertain and sometimes the status of the rulership, with co-rulers and suzerain–vassal relations, is vague. Native rule (839–1032) Anatolian dynast ...

'' by the king, and was assigned a pension of 20,000 lire by the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

. In 1861 his intervention envenomed the Cavour-Garibaldi dispute, royal mediation alone preventing a duel between him and Garibaldi. Placed in command of the troops sent to oppose the Garibaldian expedition of 1862, he defeated

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

in the controversial

battle of Aspromonte The Battle of Aspromonte, also known as the Day of Aspromonte ( it, Giornata dell'Aspromonte), was a minor engagement that took place on 29 August 1862, and was an inconclusive episode of the Italian unification process. It is named after the ne ...

. Between 1862 and 1866 he held the position of lieutenant-royal at Naples where he fought against the

Brigandage in the Two Sicilies Brigandage in Southern Italy had existed in some form since ancient times. However its origins as outlaws targeting random travellers would evolve vastly later on in the form of the political resistance movement. During the time of the Napoleonic c ...

, and in 1864 was created senator. On the outbreak of the

war of 1866 The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

he resumed command of an army corps, but dissensions between him and

Alfonso La Marmora Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora (; 18 November 18045 January 1878) was an Italian general and statesman. His older brothers include soldier and naturalist Alberto della Marmora and Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora, founder of the branch of the Italian a ...

prejudiced the issue of the campaign and contributed to the defeat of Custoza. After the war he refused the command of the General Staff, which he wished to render independent of the war office. In 1867 he attempted unsuccessfully to form a cabinet sufficiently strong to prevent the threatened Garibaldian incursion into the papal states, and two years later failed in a similar attempt, through disagreement with Giovanni Lanza concerning the army estimates. On 3 August 1870 he pleaded in favour of Italian intervention in aid of France, a circumstance which enhanced his influence when in July 1876 he replaced

Costantino Nigra Costantino, count Nigra (11 June 1828 – 1 July 1907) was an Italian diplomat. Biography Nigra was born at Villa Castelnuovo, in the province of Turin. During the war of 1848 he interrupted his studies to serve as a volunteer against Austr ...

as ambassador to the French Republic. This position he held until 1882, when he resigned on account of the publication by Pasquale Stanislao Mancini of a despatch in which he had complained of arrogant treatment by William Henry Waddington. He died at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

in 1892.

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cialdini, Enrico 1811 births 1892 deaths People from the Province of Modena Italian generals Italian politicians Dukes of Gaeta People of the First Italian War of Independence People of the Second Italian War of Independence People of the Third Italian War of Independence