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Ioan Dragalina (16 December 1860 – 9 November 1916) was a
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n general who died during World War I in the First Battle of the Jiu Valley.


Education and early life

Dragalina was born in the city of Karansebesch (now
Caransebeș Caransebeș (; ; , Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a city in Caraș-Severin County, part of the Banat region in southwestern Romania. One village, Jupa (), is administered by the city. The city is located at the confluence of the Timiș River with ...
, Romania), which at the time was part of the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
. He was a descendant of a military family. His father, Alexandru Dragalina, served as an officer in the
Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
until his resignation in 1859. His parents moved to Romania, where his father was appointed administrator of the border region. However, Marta Lazaroni, his mother, wanted to give birth in her ancestral home and thus the family returned to Karansebesch, where in 1860 Ion, the first of their four sons, was born. Dragalina went to primary school in his native city and then to military school in Temesvár (
Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...
). He continued his studies at the Military Academy in Vienna (1884) and joined the
Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
. While at the Military Academy, he enrolled and graduated from the School of Geodetic Engineering. In 1886, he married Elena Giurginca. They had six children: two sons ( Corneliu – born in 1887, and Virgiliu – born in 1890) and four daughters (Aurora, Elena, Cornelia, and Viorica). Like his father, Dragalina graduated from the
Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...
Military Academy, where he specialized in geodetic engineering. Dragalina served as a lieutenant in the Line Regiment No. 43, which was headquartered in Karánsebes. During the Hungarian parliamentary elections of 1884, two candidates were competing in Boksánbánya ( Bocșa): the would-be Hungarian Prime Minister
István Tisza Count István Imre Lajos Pál Tisza de Borosjenő et Szeged (, English: Stephen Emery Louis Paul Tisza, short name: Stephen Tisza); (22 April 1861 – 31 October 1918) was a politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary, prime minister ...
and the lawyer Coriolan Brediceanu of the
Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party (, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Tran ...
. Lieutenant Dragalina was in command of the troops assigned with maintaining order during the elections. Dragalina refused the instructions of the local civil authorities: to allow only the voters supporting the Hungarian candidate to pass. In response, Dragalina was publicly humiliated to the point of demanding satisfaction. Dragalina officially reported this to his superiors, and on 1 December 1887 he resigned from the Austro-Hungarian Army.


Career in the Romanian Army

On 1 December 1887, Dragalina resigned from the
Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
and moved to Romania where he joined the
Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...
ten days later, retaining his rank of Lieutenant. Thanks to the skills and qualifications he had acquired in Austria-Hungary, Dragalina embarked upon a successful military career in Romania. As Captain Dragalina, he served under then-Colonel
Constantin Prezan Constantin Prezan (January 27, 1861 – August 27, 1943) was a Romanian general during World War I. In 1930 he was given the honorary title of Marshal of Romania, as a recognition of his merits during his command of the Northern Army and of th ...
, a Romanian General during the First World War who eulogized him in 1936: "to his teachings I owe the tactics and strategy and all I knew and applied during the war and as Chief of the General Staff". He advanced through the ranks becoming captain in 1892, major in 1899, and lieutenant-colonel in 1908. Between 1908 and 1911, lieutenant-colonel Dragalina was the commander of the Military Infantry School in Bucharest. For his work in developing the scientific curriculum and for the order and discipline instilled in the military education system, Ioan Dragalina was made a member of the
Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the Order of Michael the Brave. It is the oldest Order of Romania. It is awarded by the Preside ...
, First class. In April 1911, colonel Dragalina took over the command of the 34th Regiment in
Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...
. During this time, he was made a member of the Order of the Crown, Fourth Class. In 1915 he was promoted to Brigadier General and had under his command the Third Territorial Commandment. During the years of Romania's neutrality, Dragalina worked on fortifications in the
Prahova Valley Prahova Valley (Romanian: ''Valea Prahovei'') is the valley where the Prahova river makes its way between the Bucegi and the Baiu Mountains, in the Carpathian Mountains, Romania. It is a tourist region, situated about north of the capital c ...
.


World War I

In 1916, prior to Romania entering the First World War on the side of the Allied Forces, Dragalina was named commander of the First Infantry Division, stationed at
Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. "Drobeta" is the name ...
. His troops patrolled a very large area on the western border, extending from the sources of the Argeș River to the city of
Calafat Calafat () is a city in Dolj County, southern Romania, in the region of Oltenia. It lies on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the b ...
.


Capture of Orsova

The Romanian 1st Division—part of General
Ioan Culcer Ioan Culcer (29 July 1853 – September 1928) was a Wallachian-born Romanian military leader and politician. Culcer served as a lieutenant during the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878) and as a general during the Second Balkan War and W ...
's 1st Army—took the
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
town of Orsova (
Orșova Orșova (; ; ; ) is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the Banat historical region situated just above the Iron Gates where the Cerna River meets the Danube. History ...
) in the
Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...
region on 4 September. The division was commanded by General Ioan Dragalina. The battle started on the morning of 28 August, with a bombardment of Turnu Severin by the ''Álmos''. The monitor had left Orsova at dawn, shelling harbor facilities, the rail yards, a cavalry barracks and some shipyards at Turnu Severin, where Dragalina's division had its headquarters. The Austrian warship fired almost 500 artillery rounds of 75 mm, as well as considerable machine gun fire. Returning upstream to Orsova, ''Álmos'' couldn't overcome the current until her crew threw 25 tons of coal overboard. In retaliation, the Romanians under Dragalina put Orsova under artillery fire around noon on that day. Dragalina recognized the Alion Height, towering above the city on the east side of the Cerna's mouth, as the key to the Austrian position. The Romanians launched a full-scale assault on 1 September, their numbers enabling them to take the Alion Height by the end of the day. A simultaneous diversionary attack to the north on that same day enabled the Romanians to capture Mehádia (today
Mehadia Mehadia (; ; ) is a small market town and Commune in Romania, commune in Caraș-Severin County, Banat, Romania. It lies on the European route E70, in the Cerna River (Danube), Cerna River valley. The town is located on the site of the ancient An ...
) and Herkulesfürdő (today
Băile Herculane Băile Herculane (; ; ; , ) is a spa town in Romanian Banat, in Caraș-Severin County, situated in the valley of the Cerna River, between the Mehedinți Mountains to the east and the Cerna Mountains to the west, elevation . Its current populatio ...
). The Austro-Hungarians conducted a rear-guard action, but lost Orsova along with the west bank of the Cerna on 4 September, retreating north of Mehádia.


First Battle of the Jiu Valley

In late October, a massive German and Austro-Hungarian offensive was launched in the
Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( , ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity ...
under the command of General . On 24 October 1916, General Dragalina was summoned to Craiova and ordered to take over the command of the First Army. He decided to fight Kneußl in the mountains and called upon his Romanian soldiers: ''"Officers and soldiers of the First Romanian Army, from this moment on I am at the helm of the army and demand from all of you, from General to the last soldier: first that you defend with your life the sacred ground of our fatherland, our ancestral home, our land and the honor of the Romanian name. I demand from all of you total discipline and the strictest execution of orders. The troop which cannot advance should die fighting."'' Early on the morning of 25 October 1916 General Dragalina left by car for the Jiu Valley, accompanied by two officers – Colonel Toma Dumitrescu and Major Constantin Militiade. He wanted personally to assess the situation on the front and reconnect with his military leaders, since phone lines were out of order. He reached the outposts of the first line of defense close to the Lainici Monastery. He stopped there to confess and take communion. While crossing the narrow Lainici bridge on his way back, the car was caught in machine gun cross fire. Speeding under a hail of bullets, his driver managed to cross the bridge, but the general was hit in his left upper arm and scapula. Dragalina was urgently transported to the medical outpost at Gura Sadului, where the wound was disinfected and his arm was bandaged. From Gura Sadului he was transported to
Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu (, is the capital city, capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathian Mountains, Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu (river), Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the ...
and that very same day to Craiova, where doctors recommended amputation. However, a telegram from Military Headquarters in Bucharest ordered his urgent transfer by train to the Military Hospital at the
Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...
in Bucharest. The tedious and long trip delayed his arrival (the train arrived in Bucharest on the evening of 13 October) and his wound became infected. In Bucharest, doctors disinfected the wound, extracted the bullet from his scapula, and set his arm in a cast. His son, captain
Corneliu Dragalina Corneliu Dragalina (5 February 1887 – 11 July 1949) was a Romanian lieutenant general during World War II. Biography Early life and World War I He was born in the city of Karánsebes, Austria-Hungary, in what is now Caransebeș, Caraș-Severi ...
, himself wounded on the
Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...
front, came back to be at his bedside. On his hospital bed,
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Ferdinand I conferred upon him the
Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...
. On 16 October 1916 his left arm was amputated. His condition began to ameliorate, but then
sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...
set in. He died on the evening of 9 November 1916. Memorial services were held at Biserica Albă in Bucharest. In attendance were King Ferdinand and Prince Carol (the future King Carol II) as well as many political personalities: Ion I.C. Brătianu (Prime-Minister of Romania),
Vintilă Brătianu Vintilă Ion Constantin Brătianu (; 16 September 1867 – 22 December 1930) was a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between 24 November 1927 and 9 November 1928. He and his brothers Ion I. C. Brătianu and Dinu Brăti ...
(War Minister), the writer
Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea; pen name of Barbu Ștefan; April 11, 1858 – April 29, 1918) was a Romanian writer and poet, considered one of the greatest figures in the National awakening of Romania. Early life and studies He was born on April ...
, Mihai Cantacuzino (Justice Minister),
Take Ionescu Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian Centrism, centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Sta ...
(Minister of Foreign Affairs), Henry Catargi (Marshal of the Royal Palace), generals and foreign military attachés in Romania. He was laid to rest in the Heroes' Cemetery ( Bellu Military Cemetery) in Bucharest.


Legacy

Although he was in command of the 1st Army for only one day (24–25 October 1916), it is General Dragalina who is credited with the Romanian
success Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person mi ...
at the Jiu Valley, the most conspicuous Romanian victory of the 1916 campaign, given that it was achieved against forces superior in both numbers and artillery. Dragalina had inferior numbers and no reserves, but addressed the issue of his numerically inferior forces by borrowing detachments from two nearby groups. Although he was wounded in action and replaced as commander of the 1st Army on 25 October, his dispositions — made with great tactical skill — ensured the success of the Romanian counterattack which began on 27 October, and lasted as late as 1 November. As a tribute to his heroism, several monuments were erected. Among these: * A memorial in the Jiu gorge near the spot where General Dragalina was wounded, erected on 12 October 1927. * A bronze statue was placed in front of the military barracks, in the Park General Ioan Dragalina in Caransebeș. The statue is the work of Mihai Onofrei and was unveiled on 3 June 1943. (It is included on the List of Historical Monuments of the Caraș-Severin County, code CS-III-m-B-11239). * A bronze bust in the city of Lugoj by Spiridon Georgescu (also included in the List of Historical Monuments, Timiș County, code TM-III-m-B-06322). * A bronze bust on a marble pedestal in front of the Mausoleum of Mărășești by Iulian Coruț in 1993. A commemorative plaque was placed on the wall of the house of General Dragalina in Caransebeș (Ardealului Street, No. 6). Many streets, schools, and geographical places were also named after him. To honor his memory, a village in
Călărași County Călărași () is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 285,050 and a population density of 56.02/km2. * Romanians – 94.1% ...
was named Dragalina in 1924. A high school in
Oravița Oravița (; ; ; ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Oravica, separator=/, Оравица) is a town in the Banat region of Romania, in Caraș-Severin County, with a population of 9,346 in 2021. Its theater is a fully functional scaled down version of the old Burgth ...
also bears his name. In 2017,
Poșta Română CN Poșta Română SA is the national operator in the field of postal services in Romania. It is the sole supplier of universal service in any point on the Romanian territory. Poșta Română is active on the free market of value added postal ...
issued a 3.50  lei stamp in his honor, part of the "Eternal Glory to the First World War Heroes" series, which also includes Generals David Praporgescu and Radu R. Rosetti.


Private life

General Ioan Dragalina was the father of the Romanian general
Corneliu Dragalina Corneliu Dragalina (5 February 1887 – 11 July 1949) was a Romanian lieutenant general during World War II. Biography Early life and World War I He was born in the city of Karánsebes, Austria-Hungary, in what is now Caransebeș, Caraș-Severi ...
(1887–1949) also born in Caransebeș, and of the Navy Commodore Virgil-Alexandru Dragalina.


Notes


References

* *Virgil Alexandru Dragalina "''Viața tatălui meu, generalul Ioan Dragalina''", Editura Militară, București, 2009 *


External links

* Col. (r) Andrei Ghidarcea - General de brigadă Ioan Dragalina
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, on-line journal ''Caraș-Severinul în 7 zile'', accessed on June 19, 2011

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragalina, Ion 1860 births 1916 deaths People from Caransebeș Romanian Austro-Hungarians Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Romania Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian Army World War I generals Officers of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave First Class of the Order of the Star of Romania Romanian military personnel killed in World War I Burials at Bellu Cemetery