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Pellegrino Chiocchetti (1835-1892): A Soldier's Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

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Extract

In the town of Moena, Italy, province of Trent, not far from the Austrian border, there is preserved a handwritten document entitled «A Soldier's Life—the Campaign of 1859». In it are described the advance and retreat of the 6th Rhaetian (Alpine) Kaiserjaeger Battalion of the Austro-Hungarian army, terminating in the battles of Morando and Solferino and the armistice of Verona. The author, Pellegrino Chiocchetti (1835-1892), took part in the campaign of 1859 as a simple soldier, conscripted to fight on the Austrian side, against the French and Italian armies. At that time, his home province in northern Italy was under Austrian domination and the official language was German.

Type
The Italian Campaign of 1859
Information
International Review of the Red Cross (1961 - 1997) , Volume 28 , Issue 266 , October 1988 , pp. 422 - 434
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 1988

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References

1 Pellegrino Chiocchetti (1835–1892) of Moena, province of Trent, Italy, a soldier serving in the 6th Rhaetian K.u.K. Jaeger Battalion, Austro-Hungarian army: Vita di un soldato — Overo i movimenti dell'anno 1859, cioè avanzata e retirata del sesto Bataglione Reto K. K. Jeger, che finise colla bataglia di Morando, di Solferino e col riposo in Verona.

2 The Italian campaign of 1859 was marked by a succession of battles opposing the French and Sardinian forces led by Emperor Napoleon III, who had wholeheartedly embraced the cause of Italian independence, and the Austrian armies led by the young Emperor Francis Joseph. These battles were fought at Montebello, Palestro, Magenta and Melegnano, but the most decisive and bloody encounter between the two armies took place on 24 June near Solferino.

For further reading on the subject we suggest, inter alia, Henry Dunant's main works, i.e.: A Memory of Solferino, The American National Red Cross, Washington, D.C., 1959 Google Scholar, and Mémoires, Institut Henry-Dunant, L'Age d'Homme, Lausanne, 1971 Google Scholar; Boissier, Pierre, Henry Dunant, Henry Dunant Institute, 1974 Google Scholar, and History of the ICRC, Vol. II, from Solferino to Tsushima, Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva, 1985 Google Scholar.

See also: Aux sources de l'idée de la Croix-Rouge, Société Henry Dunant, Musée international de la Croix-Rouge, Geneva, 1984 Google Scholar (Collection Henry Dunant), particularly Durand, Roger: «La bataille de Solférino» (pp. 15–31)Google Scholar and Christ, Félix: «La défaite de Solférino» (pp. 55–61)Google Scholar. An interesting work on the strategy and tactics employed by the two belligerents: de Bazancourt, Baron, La Campagne d'Italie de 1859 — Chroniques de la guerre, 2e partie, Amyot Editeur, Paris, 1890.Google Scholar

3 From Mondo Ladino, bulletin of the Instituto Culturale Ladino, Vigo di Fassa, V (1981)Google Scholar, nos. 1–4.—All sub-titles and footnote 2 are by the editor.