Luigi Cante Gabrielli-Quercita (1790–1854) was an Italian soldier and military writer.

Life

Born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

to a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

originally from

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

, Luigi was the son of Antonio Gabrielli, a nobleman of progressive ideas who in 1799 had supported the

Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic (, ) or Neapolitan Republic () was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the French First Republic. The republic emerged during the French Revolutionary Wars after ...

against the

Bourbon kings The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from ...

. In 1809, at the age of 19, Luigi enlisted in the army and served under

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

, the newly appointed

king of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in Southern Italy was ruled by monarchs from its establishment in 1816 to its incorporation into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. History Joachim Murat was the first king to rule a kingdom called "Two Sicilies" by th ...

, until 1815, when Ferdinand I was restored. As king, Ferdinand acknowledged that some of the military reforms introduced by king Joachim were worth of being maintained, upon accession he decided not to disband the Army and offered many officers the possibility to remain and keep the same rank. That was also the case for Luigi Gabrielli, who accepted the king's offer. Luigi's wishes to see a modernisation of the Neapolitan society were however frustrated by the increasingly conservative policy adopted by the government. Disillusioned and influenced by reformers such as

Giuseppe Rosaroll Giuseppe Maria Rosaroll-Scorza (16 September 1775 – 2 December 1825) was an Italian essayist and a general in the army of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He was also the father of the Italian patriotic hero Cesare Rosaroll. Military career ...

, Luigi was introduced in philhellenic circles and briefly fought in Greece with the patriots pursuing the country's independence from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Following an injury, he decided to go back to Italy and joined again the Neapolitan army, with the hope of contributing to its modernization. From the 1820s onwards, he dedicated himself to writing and translating military works and advocating for introducing into the army appropriate reforms. Among his works are the first Italian versions of the ''Guide des Officiers particuliers en Campagne'' by Jean-Gérard Lacuée de Cessac, the ''Essai sur l'infanterie legère ou Traité des petites Opérations de la Guerre'' by

Guillaume Philibert Duhesme Guillaume Philibert, 1st Count Duhesme, () born on 7 July 1766 in Mercurey (formerly ''Bourgneuf''), Burgundy, killed on the 20th June 1815 near Waterloo, was a French general, politician and writer during the French Revolution and Napoleonic ...

, and the ''Essai général de Tactique'' by Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte de Guibert. Luigi Gabrielli also wrote poems, most of which were inspired by political or social events. He died in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

on 29 August 1854, while the Sicilian capital was being ravaged by a

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

outbreak. He had reached the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Works

Military essays

* ''Guida dell'uffiziale in campagna del conte di Cessac, con modificazioni, correzioni ed aggiunte del capitano Luigi Gabrielli ''(Naples, 1822 et 1829) * ''Saggio storico sulla fanteria leggiera del conte Duhesme, ossia trattato sulle operazioni di guerra alla spicciolata, tradotto dal francese e annotato per Luigi Gabrielli'' (Naples, 1823 et 1834);

first edition The bibliographical definition of an edition is all copies of a book printed from substantially the same setting of type, including all minor typographical variants. First edition According to the definition of ''edition'' above, a book pr ...

dedicated to

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir Richard Church * ''Saggio generale di tattica del conte di Guibert. Prima versione italiana'' (Naples, 1832) * ''Capitolo addizionale al Saggio storico del Duhesme, contenente alcune così dette pronte manovre per battaglione e dodici maniere diverse di contramarciare'' (Naples, 1834) * ''Officio delle guide e delle cariche militari nelle evoluzioni, recato dalla Regia Ordinanza del 1833 in quadri sinottici'' (Messine, 1836)

Poems

* ''La Felice Italia. Ode composta in occasione del proclama di Re Gioacchino dato in Rimini il 30 marzo 1815'' * ''Alla Patria. Sonetto del capitano Luigi Gabrielli'' * ''Rime in dialetto napoletano sulla Costituzione del 1820'' * ''Sull'indipendenza della Grecia proclamata in Epidauro il 1 Gennajo 1822. Canzone in rima per Luigi Gabrielli filelleno''

Tragedies

* ''Bianca da Salerno. Tragedia di Luigi Gabrielli.'' Stabilimento tipografico di Francesco Lao (Palermo, 1854)

Bibliography

* Mariano d'Ayala. ''Bibliografia militare italiana antica e moderna''. Stamperia Reale (Torino, 1854) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gabrielli, Luigi 1790 births 1854 deaths 19th-century Italian writers Italian military writers 19th-century Neapolitan people Writers from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies