Carlo Zucchi (

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

, 10 March 1777 –

, 19 December 1863), was an Italian

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and patriot, who served in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

and later in the

Papal State The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. He played an active role in the Risorgimento. His namesake nephew was a notable architect.

Biography

First seeing action as a sub lieutenant of a battalion of volunteers in the 1796 Italian Campaign, Zucchi rose steadily through the ranks, serving as a Colonel under Eugene de Beauharnais in the 1809 campaign, being made General de Brigade and Inspector General of the Infantry of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1812 he served in the XI Corps of the Grande Armée, commanding a brigade sent to join army in Russia, late November. In 1813 he was dispatched to oversee the cavalry reserves being organised in Italy, then returned to the field to lead a brigade of Gérard's 35th Division in Macdonald's XI Corps. He served at the action of Seyfersdorf 5 May, the capture of

Lahn The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). It has its source in t ...

18 August, Niederau 23rd and the

battle of the Katzbach The Battle of the Katzbach on 26 August 1813, was a major battle of the Napoleonic Wars between the forces of the First French Empire under Marshal MacDonald and a Russo-Prussian army of the Sixth Coalition under Prussian Marshal Graf (Count ...

on the 26th. He was then at the

Battle of Leipzig The Battle of Leipzig (french: Bataille de Leipsick; german: Völkerschlacht bei Leipzig, ); sv, Slaget vid Leipzig), also known as the Battle of the Nations (french: Bataille des Nations; russian: Битва народов, translit=Bitva ...

18 Oct. In 1814 he commanded the 6ème Division of the Armée d’Italie under Eugene de Beauharnais. In 1821 he was arrested for his part in the Italian risings against Austria, and in the 1829 risings he commanded the revolutionary forces of the Duchies and Papal States, being arrested again in 1831. On 4 June 1832 an Austrian military commission sentenced Zucchi to the death penalty, later commuted to twenty years of fortress imprisonment following the intervention of the French court. Initially in solitary confinement in the fortress of Palmanova, in 1840 he was transferred to Josephstadt, and in 1848 was liberated by the revolutionary forces, of which he again took command and from which he rejected the imperial siege of Palmanova with about 1,440 fighters between regulars and volunteers. In October-November 1848 he was Pius IX's last minister of arms as a constitutional sovereign. In the 1859 uprising he again volunteered for Piedmont and served as Lieutenant General.Italy in the Making 1815 to 1846 By George Fitz-Hardinge Berkeley, Joan Weld Berkeley, p.97 His ''Memorie del generale Carlo Zucchi'' were edited by Bianchi, and published in 1861.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zucchi, Carlo 1777 births 1863 deaths People from Reggio Emilia Italian generals Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Officers of the Legion of Honour Barons of the First French Empire People of the Italian unification Italian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Italian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars