The Bourbon Army
The Bourbon Army
As with all other aspects, for the fundamental matter of the armed forces we draw information from: *Mostra delle armi ed uniformi napolitane 1734-1860*, Museo Principe Gaetano Filangieri, Naples April 15 – June 30, 1969, Catalogue edited by the Organizing Committee, Museo Filangieri, Naples 1969, pp. 9 et seq.; *Il Real Collegio Militare della Nunziatella, Mostra documentaria (maggio 2000-aprile 2001)*, edited by G. CATENACCI, Naples 2000, and also edited by G. CATENACCI, *La Nunziatella nella storia*, Associazione Nazionale ex Allievi Nunziatella, Naples 2000. See also: R.M. SELVAGGI, *Nomi e volti di un esercito dimenticato*, Grimaldi & c. editori, Naples 1990. The event that led to the establishment of a true national army was the accession to the throne of Charles of Bourbon in 1734, although in the first decades the core of the forces consisted of the gift made to his son by Philip V of half the Spanish army and almost all the artillery (about 30,000 men between infantry and cavalry; after the conquest of the Kingdom, about 18,000 remained).
The Captain General was the Spanish Duke of Charny, and only in 1740 was the Neapolitan Francesco d’Eboli, Duke of Castropignano, appointed. However, Charles immediately began the recruitment and formation of units defined as “national,” so much so that as early as 1744, at the Battle of Velletri against the Austrians, a “national” regiment, that of Terra di Lavoro, distinguished itself [Cf. G. FIORENTINO, *Cenni sull’armamento individuale dell’esercito borbonico 1734-1860*, in: AA.-VV., *Le armi al tempo dei Borbone*, edited by S. Abita, ESI, Naples 1998, p. 89].
Regarding the naval forces, Charles found no ships, as they had been handed over to Emperor Charles VI by Marquis Pallavicini; he then immediately began the construction of the fleet, also driven by the need to defend against Barbary raids (see the entry dedicated to the “Navy”).
Charles began the work of military reconstruction with the creation of institutes for officer training, starting with the “Real Academia de los Guardias Estendartes de las Galeras,” founded on December 5, 1735, followed in 1745 by the “Artillery Academy” and in 1754 by the “Academy of the Military Engineers Corps.”
The first reforms took place during the early years of the reign of Ferdinand IV: in 1765 the heavy Spanish regulations were lightened, all regiments were placed on the same footing, and the “Corsican” regiment was suppressed; in 1769, from the merger of the Royal Artillery Academy with that of the Engineers Corps, the “Royal Military Academy” was born, based in the Panatica building at Santa Lucia; and in 1771 a Select Corps of Cadets was also established, called the “Royal Ferdinand Battalion,” which had the Sovereign as its colonel.
But satisfaction had not yet been reached regarding the fundamental care for the complete training of young soldiers. Thus, in 1774, a general reform was implemented which involved the suppression of the “Royal Military Academy” and the restructuring of the “Royal Ferdinand Battalion,” in which it was decided to admit cadets from all branches; it thus took the name of the “Royal Academy of the Royal Ferdinand Battalion,” and the cadets increased from 270 divided into three companies to 810 divided into nine companies. The older ones were housed in the former Franciscan convent which later became the palace of the Prince of Salerno (current headquarters of the Southern Military Region Command), while the younger ones were in the Panatica building at Santa Lucia.
Also noteworthy are the “Real Paggeria,” founded by Charles at the beginning of his reign to educate the youths who were to serve at Court, and the “Military College,” founded to instruct young men in the first rudiments of the military art.
However, it was with the advent of Acton, who was much more attentive to military matters than Tanucci, that the first major reforms of 1786 and 1788 took place, marking the definitive emancipation from Spanish influence.
Some foreign regiments were abolished and the distribution of officers and non-commissioned officers across the various regiments was regulated with homogeneity; all administrative services were united under a single General Intendancy of the Army, while many officers were sent to study in France and Prussia, and foreign instructors were invited to Naples (from this came the idea for the Nunziatella, as we shall see later).
Although the production of weapons had always been active in the Kingdom of Naples since Norman times, it was only with the accession of Charles of Bourbon in 1734 that—after the period of the Habsburg Viceregal rule, which saw a clear “Spanish” pre-eminence even in this sector—there was a rebirth of “national production roots, with the pride of national and international competition also in terms of quality” [A. PARLATO, *Le armi al tempo dei Borbone*, in: AA.-VV., *Le armi al tempo dei Borbone*, edited by S. Abita, ESI, Naples 1998, p. 14. We rely primarily on this volume for the present reconstruction].
The Infantry (armed according to the Prussian model) and the Cavalry (from which the Dragoons were abolished) were also reformed, constituting 14 brigades forming 7 divisions.
The Artillery, on the other hand, was organized according to the French model.
With the pragmatic sanction of 1796, which provided for a new form of recruitment, the army was divided into 20 infantry regiments. In each national regiment, 600 soldiers from the provincial militia were incorporated, each consisting of 3 battalions.
Overall, in wartime, each regiment was composed of 1,700 men. The Neapolitan armed forces distinguished themselves during the wars against Revolutionary France. We recall that Napoleon defined the Neapolitan cavalry as “the white devils” (In: *Antologia Militare*, yr. V, no. 9). Each cavalry regiment was composed of 4 squadrons and a half-squadron in reserve (the squadron was composed of 142 men, 120 of whom were mounted). The General and Minor Staff consisted of 21 men.
Each artillery regiment was composed of 2 battalions divided into 4 brigades, each formed of 4 battalions, which in turn were composed of 4 companies of 51 men each.
Overall, the numbers rose from the 34,000 men of Tanucci’s time to 58,000 units, including provincial forces [S. FEDELE, *L’Esercito e l’Armata di mare da Carlo III a Ferdinando*, in: S. FEDELE-S. SERIO, *L’Armata di mare di Sua Maestà il Re del Regno delle Due Sicilie*, il Gabbiano, Messina 1997, p. 4].
Acton also looked after the fleet, which in 1799 consisted of 28 “Square-rigged vessels” and 120 “Oared/Light vessels.” Unfortunately, during the days of Championnet’s invasion, on January 8, 1799, by order of Nelson, it was completely burned in the Gulf of Naples so that it would not fall into enemy hands (see the entry dedicated to the “Navy”).
After the French interlude, Ferdinand (now Ferdinand I as King of the Two Sicilies) wished to act with prudence and limited himself to changing the name of the “Royal Polytechnic and Military School” founded by Murat to the “Royal Military Polytechnic Institute.”
With the Restoration and the merger of the two Kingdoms into the “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,” there was also a complete merger of the Neapolitan and Sicilian armed forces. In these final years of the reign of Ferdinand I and then under Francis I, the main concern was the reconstruction of the fleet, but changes were also made to the military training institutes.
On January 1, 1819, a new regulation was issued that provided for three establishments:
- the “Royal Military College,” based at Pizzofalcone (the Nunziatella), with the task of providing officers for the artillery, engineers, and the General Staff;
- the “Royal Military Academy,” based at San Giovanni a Carbonara, which was to provide officers for all other Corps and serve as a preparatory school for the “Royal Military College”;
- the “Military Schools,” with the task of providing non-commissioned officers and serving as preparatory schools for the “Royal Military Academy.”
But in 1821, after the revolutionary movements of the previous year which had seen some active participation by officers, Ferdinand I decided to revoke the 1819 regulation and leave only the Nunziatella in existence, although significantly reduced and “monitored.”
The Reform of Ferdinand II
Things changed significantly (as in all other fields, for that matter) with the accession to the throne of Ferdinand II in 1830.
He implemented a radical and general reform of the land forces (with the valuable contribution of Prince Carlo Filangieri of Satriano), by virtue of which they were—in the final years of the Kingdom—structured as follows:
- GENERAL STAFF: General Staff Guides Company (1 on foot and 1 on horseback);
- ROYAL BODYGUARDS: 1 company on horseback and 1 on foot;
- GUARD OF HONOR: one squadron for each province of the Kingdom;
- ROYAL GUARD CORPS: 1 Grenadier Brigade, 1 Sharpshooter Regiment, 1 Light Cavalry Brigade, 1st and 2nd Hussar Regiments;
- LINE INFANTRY: Regiments: Re, Regina, Principe, Principessa, Borbone, Farnese, Napoli, Calabria, Puglia, Abruzzo, Palermo, Messina, Lucania, and 12 regiments of Line Chasseurs;
SWISS TROOPS: 4 Infantry Regiments, 1 Artillery Corps, 13th Line Chasseurs Regiment; - LINE CAVALRY: 2 Dragoon Regiments (Re and Regina), 2 Lancer Regiments, 1 Carabinieri Regiment, 1 Chasseurs Regiment;
- ROYAL VETERAN REGIMENTS – ARTILLERY: 2 Regiments (Re and Regina), 1 Horse Artillery Company, 1 Artisans Brigade, 1 Train Battalion and the Coastal Artillery Corps;
- ROYAL ENGINEERS CORPS: Topographic Office, 1 Sapper-Miner and Pioneer Battalion, Fortifications Office.
Overall, “the Neapolitan army reached a high degree of efficiency and a consistent number, up to about 100,000/110,000 men in case of war, which guaranteed the dynasty against all attempts to overthrow it put in place by the liberals” [FIORENTINO, op. cit., p. 94].
At the time of the Garibaldian invasion, the army counted “over 120,000 active personnel among the Royal Guard, infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers, equipped with first-rate weapons, suitably trained, and supported by good-level logistical structures.” For its part, the Navy was so large and modern “that in terms of the number of vessels (over one hundred including large, medium, and small), total tonnage, percentage of steamships, and firepower, it was not only by far the largest among the military fleets of the pre-unification Italian States but ranked third in the Mediterranean, preceded only by those of England and France” [FEDELE, op. cit., p. 3].
Furthermore, the units loyal to the Crown were able to redeem the dishonor of so many traitors with the heroic resistance of the fortresses of Messina, Civitella del Tronto, and Gaeta, and then for years during the Southern civil war in defense of the legitimate rights of Francis II of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies.
The Nunziatella
We have already seen that in 1782 Minister Acton sent young officers to study “new troop regulations, the organization of military education institutes, and the most recent discoveries in the Engineer and Artillery services” [CATENACCI, op. cit., p. 20].
Among these, Lieutenant Giuseppe Parisi, who returned in 1785, presented a precise report and with it a project for a new Academy “which was to contain the best of what had been observed and which was not to be a copy of any other military instruction institute” [Cited in ibid.].
The proposal was taken very seriously by the King and Acton, to the point that on October 27, 1786, Ferdinand established the “Royal Military Academy,” which replaced all previous military institutes, and for which he designated the “Nunziatella” building, the site of the Jesuit novitiate, as its headquarters on May 28, 1787.
“In an enchanting position, clinging to the then-verdant hill that descended steeply toward the Chiatamone beach, facing Castel dell’Ovo, the new headquarters, spacious and majestic, was a corner of Paradise described by Goethe as follows (…) ‘below you is the sea, with the view of Capri, Posillipo to the right with the walk of the Villa Reale between you and the grotto: to the left an ancient building belonging to the Jesuits and beyond it the coast extending from Sorrento to Cape Minerva’” [In ibid.].
Courses officially began on November 18, 1787. In 1798, the Ordinance for the Royal Military Academy of 1798 was adopted, thanks to Parisi, which Catenacci describes as follows: “admirable for wisdom, foresight, order, and precision. Education, as considered in this ordinance, is threefold and must include that of the body, that of the mind, and that of the heart: this is true education, because it is complete, not mutilated, and harmonious.
It seeks to foster a love for study, aims to accustom the young man to reasoning, combines theory and practice in the sciences, gives an important place to literature and the exercise of writing, and takes care to instill a sense of duty, loyalty, and camaraderie” [Ibid., p. 21].
The students were divided into 4 brigades, while there were nine level classes.
The officer corps was divided as follows: the Commandant of the Academy, the second-in-command and inspector of studies (this was the post given to Parisi as a reward), 1 major, 4 captains, 7 lieutenants, 7 ensigns, 1 detail officer, 1 quartermaster, and 2 chaplains.
Regarding the teaching staff, suffice it to say that some of the most prestigious exponents of 19th-century Southern Italian culture taught there.
In reality, it cannot be ignored that during the Parthenopean Republic of 1799 and later during the Murat period, not a few officers and students betrayed their benefactors; despite this, Ferdinand, both at the time of the first restoration in July 1799 and the second in 1815, did not wish to close this pride of the Bourbons; but, despite such generosity, also during the constitutional movements of 1820 and again in 1848, some members betrayed the Bourbons; yet both Ferdinand I (once again) and Ferdinand II [With the great military reform of Ferdinand II, the Nunziatella also began training Navy officers] always wanted to keep the College alive: the latter moved it to Maddaloni in 1854, but then in 1859 Francis II brought it back to Pizzofalcone at the request of Filangieri.
The events of 1860, up to the resistance of Gaeta, dramatically affected, as can be imagined, the officers and students of the Nunziatella. While there were those who decided to betray their Sovereigns and benefactors this time as well, in reality, the vast majority remained loyal to the dynasty, and many went to fight in the heroic and tragic resistance of Gaeta alongside Francis II and Maria Sofia.
