Enrico Cialdini, Duca di Gaeta (10 August 18118 September 1892) was an Italian soldier, politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

Biography

He was born in Castelvetro, in the

province of Modena The province of Modena () is a Provinces of Italy, 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'' (: ''comune'') in th ...

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. He was the son of a civil engineer Mageli, Paul D. "Cialdini, Enrico (1813-1892)." The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, by Trevor N. Dupuy, et al., HarperCollins, 1992, p. 166. Gale General OneFile. Accessed 30 May 2023. and attended and was expelled from a Jesuit school."Personal And General Notes." Times-Picayune, 28 Sept. 1892, p. 4. NewsBank: America's Historical Newspapers. Accessed 30 May 2023. In 1831 he took part in the insurrection in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, fleeing afterwards to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, whence he proceeded to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to fight against the Carlists. Returning to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1848, he commanded a regiment at the Battle of Novara. In 1859, he organized the Alpine Brigade, fought at the

Battle of Palestro The Battle of Palestro was fought on 30–31 May 1859 between the Austrian Empire and the combined forces of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and Second French Empire, France. The Franco-Piedmontese forces were victorious. It was fought just sout ...

at the head of the 4th Division; in the following year invaded the

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, won the Battle of Castelfidardo, took

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

, and subsequently directed the Siege of Gaeta. For these services he was created '' Duke of Gaeta'' by the king, and was assigned a pension of 10,000 lire by the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

. In 1861 his intervention envenomed the Cavour-

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

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 in the controversial Battle of Aspromonte. Between 1862 and 1866 he held the position of lieutenant-royal at Naples where he fought against the Brigandage in the Two Sicilies, and in 1864 was created senator. On the outbreak of the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence () was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria giving the region of Venetia (p ...

he resumed command of an army corps, but dissensions between him and Alfonso La Marmora 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 The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, 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 France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, a circumstance which enhanced his influence when in July 1876 he replaced Costantino Nigra 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 the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

in 1892.

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cialdini, Enrico 1811 births 1892 deaths People from the Province of Modena Italian Army 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