Turin, July 1, 1836. It was one those summer days in the Reign of Sardinia capital on
which the sun and the shade of the arcades softened the solid, geometric porticos of her
neighborhoods and the straight lines of her roads. Turin, in spite of the upheavel and
fear known in those years, especially after the battle of Marengo, the French occupation
and the insurrections of 1821, and in spite of the general European unrest, still
maintained a normal rhythm of life, enclosed within its islands of slate, its monumental
squares, and its skyline of spires and bell-towers outlined against the jagged round of
the Alps. But on that quiet July morning this aristocratic silence was broken by an
unusual noise...
A sudden staccato rattle of footsteps was following an odd blare of trumpets and hunting horns.
The inhabitants of the Contrada del Soccorso, Piazza S.Carlo, the Contrada of Santa Teresa and the Arsenal, stopped and stared. Such a curious company was something to see !
Behind a tall, good looking, moustachioed officer some soldiers were running. They were shorter and more thickset than their leader but, like him, they wore a black uniform with crimsn tabs, stiff, high-peaked hats tilted to the right and trailing feathers and hob-nailed boots beating at the terrific rate of 130 paces a minute. In the meantime, the strange company had arrived at the wide San Secondo parade ground, was ordered to halt and, having been drawn up in three ranks, presented arms to the King Carlo Alberto who was waiting for them with a group of high-ranking officers on horseback.
It was the first time that Turin and her King had encountered the Bersaglieri !
 (La Marmora - Rome Bersaglieri National Museum) |
Only a few days before, on June 18, 1836, Alessandro Ferrero della Marmora (commonly known as "La Marmora") had succeded in founding the Bersaglieri Corps. His first proposal, made in 1831, for the creation of a special Corps of "light" infantry troopers to be organized in a certain number of snipers companies had been rejected but, finally, his "Proposition" of 1835 was approved by the King Carlo Alberto. La Marmora, then a Major of the Grenadier Guards Regiment, was given the opportunity to put in practice all the innovative ideas he had developed about the requirements of a modern army. The condition of the infantry of the time, common to almost all the armies, was a static one, as summarized by La Marmora himself : "the soldier does not know how to shoot, march or manoeuvre". |
His idea was to create a Corps of "special troops" that was dynamic, flexible, fast and skilled. For these soldiers he had designed a "package" consisting of hard training, modern weaponry and adequate equipment.
The Bersaglieri had been personally selected by La Marmora, mainly from the youth of the Piedmontese countryside and the Alpine valleys. They were sturdy, willing to undergo rigorous physical exercise, never applied before; they were also intelligent, and so capable of taking initiative, as well as honest and therefore fully reliable.
|
These and other requisites were well symbolized by the dark
uniform, with its unconventional rakish plumed hat and the stirring trumpet fanfare which
accompanied their brisk double. The Bersagliere was born : a challenge to traditional precepts, a new soldier for a new Italy. A soldier who, after more than 160 years, is still considered to be the most genuine, dynamic and generous expression of the Italian people.
And this "new soldier" deserved a "new weapon". La Marmora himself invented and tested the carbine, inspired by Dalvigne's one, to which he fixed a sabre-bayonet ans a spiked stock. With its 7-10 rounds every two minutes, accuracy up to 400 paces, and equipped with a strap and powder pouch with an automatic measure, the Bersagliere's carbine was e truly new weapon for its times. |
...in Italy
Carlo Alberto, almost spurred by the role assigned to him in the "Preeminence of the Italians" by Abbot Gioberti, became vehicle of popular hopes in 1848 when he granted a Constitution and turned the Milan upraising (the "Cinque Giornate") into a war against Austria for the national liberation.
This event marked the start of the period known as Risorgimento.
It was also the baptism of fire for the Bersaglieri Corps. On April 8, 1848, the 2nd Company, led by La Marmora, was preparing to cross the Mincio river over the partially destroyed Goito bridge. On the opposite bank the Tyrolean light infantry were holding their position under a heavy artillery fire coverage. La Marmora, although seriously wounded in the jaw, could see his Bersaglieri rush forward, cross the bridge and rout the enemy.
During the following years, the Italian Risorgimento was always supported by the Bersaglieri, whose Corps was progressively increased and reinforced : ten batallions in 1852, twenty-seven in 1860, thirty-six in 1861 and fifty in 1866.
They always were at the forefront of every campaign during the struggle for unity and national independence, which was concluded in 1870 with the conquest of Rome.
(the taking of Porta Pia - September 20, 1870)
...and abroad
The story of the Bersaglieri Corps, as support to the Italian adventures overseas, is marked by several milestones :
The 1915-1918 war saw the Bersaglieri deployed on all fronts and involved in all battles. They experienced the hard life in the trenches, the biting cold of the mountains, the stones of the Carso, the mud of the Veneto plains, always among the first, on foot or by bicyle.
Of the 210,000 who soldiered during War World I, 32,000 were killed and 50,000 wounded.
During the WWII, with the theater of operations widened to include Greece, Russia, and North Africa, the Corps' Colors won eight Gold Medals for Military Valour and the first Gold Medal awarded to a member of the Italian expeditionary corps in Russia (CSIR) was that conferred to the Bersagliere A.Lutri. In the Bersaglieri National Museum there are two Roman funeral urns containing sand from El Alamein and soil from the Don to recall that respect is due even in defeat. |
|
The story of the Bersaglieri Corps in our times is still that of men always ready to come to the aid of their Homeland, as well as that of soldiers who, without forgetting to modernize their weaponry and training, dedicate themselves also to missions of peace. In 1982 a Bersaglieri task force was deployed twice in Lebanon, upon request of that country's government, to cooperate in maintaining law and order in that strife-torn land.
That mission, which was highly appreciated, was carried out in the real spirit of the Corps, a spirit which is still that La Marmora had indicated in ...
Acknowledgement : Most of the text and some images have been taken from the book "Esercito e Tradizioni", by Mauro Pucciarelli, a book which is a tour of the Italian Army Corps' Museums.
(The Silence - r.a.)
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