Eusebio Bava

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eusebio Bava

Eusebio Bava (born August 6, 1790 in Vercelli , † April 30, 1854 in Turin ) was an Italian general in the First Italian War of Independence and a politician.

Life

Bava was born in Vercelli in 1790 as the son of a watchmaker. In January 1802 he entered the Saint-Cyr Military School . Only 16 years old, he fought as a volunteer officer with the French in the war against Prussia in 1806 and took part in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt and the siege of Danzig , where he was seriously injured. In 1808 he fought as a lieutenant in Spain against the insurgents in Navarre and took part in the siege of Saragossa . In 1809 he stood on the front against Portugal, was wounded there and fell into captivity. In Porto he was embarked for internment in England, where he was able to flee across the sea with a few friends in December 1810. Back in Spain, he took command of a mobile brigade that fought against the guerrillas in the Basque Country and was promoted to lieutenant . In May 1811 he took Lequeitio and was proposed by the superior commander for the Legion of Honor . In December 1811 he was promoted to captain with the 31st Light Infantry Regiment in Spain . In 1814 he took part in the retreat across the Pyrenees under Marshal Soult and also fought in the Battle of Toulouse . When Napoleon was overthrown, Bava went to Piedmont in July 1814 , where he and his veterans were welcomed by Victor Emanuel I and taken over as a hunter battalion in the Sardinian army. In 1815 he took part in operations against Grenoble and was awarded the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. In 1819 Bava was promoted to major and supported the reactionary Karl Felix in March – April 1821 in taking over the throne. In 1830 Bava was promoted to colonel and in 1832 he rose to major general under King Karl Albert . In 1838 he took over the leadership of the Turin division and two years later he was promoted to lieutenant general . In 1844 Bava was raised to baron by King Carl Albert, he entered the new cabinet and was appointed senator on April 3, 1848 .

During the Revolutionary War of 1848

After the outbreak of the Italian uprising in Lombardy , Bava was given command of the Sardinian-Piedmontese I. Corps, which was initially composed of the divisions of Generals Broglia and Federici . On March 25, 1848, his troops crossed the border river Ticino , and by April 8, the Mincio crossing succeeded . The capture of the strategically important bridge at Goito secured the formation of an eastern bridgehead. In two further battles on the Mincio, near Valeggio (April 9th) and Monzambano (April 10th), the first break-in into the Austrian fortress square between Peschiera and Mantua was successful . On April 30th, his troops intervened in support of the II Corps (General de Sonnaz ) in the battle of Pastrengo and secured the base on the right side of the Adige . Then the Bavas Corps, supported by the reserve division of the Crown Prince of Savoy , pushed the enemy back onto the glacis of the fortress Verona , but was thrown back on May 6 at the Battle of Santa Lucia . The failure to establish the defense system met with bitter criticism from the Minister of War Antonio Franzini who was present . Bava's feared dismissal from command and his retirement was not allowed by the king. At the end of May, Field Marshal Radetzky attempted to encircle Mantua, the reserve corps left behind under General von Wocher saw themselves threatened in the Battle of Goito . Bava ordered a new operation against Verona, while Radetzky still advanced with the bulk of his forces against Vicenza . On June 7, 1848, Bava was promoted to army general. As soon as Franzini returned to Turin for parliamentary work in mid-June, Bava was nominally given the command of the army. At the beginning of July, Bava had four divisions spread out in a semicircle from Goito to north of Governolo , while another two divisions blocked off Verona. On a front stretching more than 70 kilometers, the Savoy army was now weak to attack anywhere. On July 22nd, the Austrian counter-offensive began, initially against the left wing and the center of the Piedmontese, which was now formed by the II Corps. The success at Staffalo (July 24th) was followed by defeat in the Battle of Custozza . On July 27th, Bava had to withdraw the army behind the Oglio . Before Milan , the king, supported by his chief of staff General Salasco, wanted to dare a counterattack, which Bava no longer believed the demotivated troops could do.

Last time

Monument of Eusebio Bava in Vercelli

After the campaign, the War Ministry initiated an investigation into Bava, the press was quick to refute the allegations, but on October 12th the appointment of the Pole Chrzanowski as the new Army Chief of Staff prevailed. Bava published exonerating documents on December 5, which revealed the king's intervention in operational planning. The Perrone-Pinelli ministry decided to remove General Bava, and the new ministry under Vincenzo Gioberti , installed on December 15, made the decision to restart hostilities against Austria. On February 7, 1849, Bava was finally acquitted of all accusations, his appointment as inspector general of the army was pronounced, and General Wojciech Chrzanowski was put in his place as commander in chief of the army command . Five months after the recent unfortunate campaign in Piedmont, which ended with the Battle of Novara (1849) , Bava was asked by Victor Emmanuel II to rejoin the ministry on September 4, 1849. On October 14th, the young general Alfonso La Marmora began the necessary reorganization of the Sardinian army. In 1854, Bava died unexpectedly at the age of 63.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bava, Eusebio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian general
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1790
PLACE OF BIRTH Vercelli
DATE OF DEATH April 30, 1854
Place of death Turin