19th century Italian general
Luigi Ghilardi
, also known as
Luis Ghilardi
, was an Italian general who fought in many different conflicts during the 19th century, and who advocated for republican ideals. His parents were Nicolas Ghilardi and Isabel Lucchesi. As a young man he enlisted to fight in liberal movements in Europe. In 1840 he married Francisca Anguera with whom he had a daughter named Ana. He participated in the
First Italian War of Independence
. Later he visited Mexico where he fought alongside the liberals in the
Ayutla Revolution
[
es
]
. He returned to Italy and tried to join the army, failing to do so he returned to Mexico where he fought against the
French Intervention
. He was later captured by the French and executed.
Military Actions in Europe
[
edit
]
Possibly influenced by the ideas of
Giuseppe Mazzini
, he was attracted to liberal and republican ideals. As a result of the repression following the
1820 revolution
in Italy, several republicans fled the peninsula. Ghilardi fought in various liberal movements during the revolutions of 1830,
in France
,
Portugal
and
Belgium
.
[1]
He traveled to Spain where he enlisted in the
Spanish Army
to fight against the Carlists under the command of General
Santiago Durando
. In 1848 he had request to leave service in Spain to fight in the
First Italian War of Independence
. During the 1848 armistice with the Austrians, he traveled to Sicily where he participated in the
Sicilian revolution of 1848
against the Bourbon dynasty, reaching the rank of colonel. He was given a commission to travel to
Switzerland
to recruit troops for the Sicilian cause. In 1849 he fought to maintain the short-lived
Roman Republic
, where he fought alongside
Giuseppe Garibaldi
.
[2]
Military Actions in the Americas
[
edit
]
First visit to Mexico: The Ayutla Revolution
[
edit
]
He could not rejoin the Spanish army because the term of his license had expired, so he decided to travel to
Mexico
in 1853, although there is no record of a given reason. He met with President
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
. However, he soon participated in the
Plan of Ayutla
, precisely against Santa Anna. He initially fought under
Santos Degollado
. Around the end,
Juan Alvarez
, leader of the revolution, gave him the rank of brigadier general. On March 11, 1856, he participated in the assault on the city of Puebla where he was seriously wounded, so he preferred to return to Europe. 3
Life in Peru
[
edit
]
In 1858 Ghilardi moved with his family to
Peru
.
[3]
During the
Peruvian Civil War of 1856?1858
, he became involved in a conspiracy that ended with the death of General Carlos Varea, prefect of
Cajamarca
, which earned him a sentence of two years in prison.
[4]
[5]
[6]
In 1861 he moved to
Italy
to fight for unification, however because his attempt to enlist had been extemporaneous, in accordance with the laws decreed for that purpose, he was not admitted to the
Royal Italian Army
.
[7]
For this reason, he decided to return to Mexico to combat the
Second French intervention in Mexico
, which had been brewing for months.
Second French intervention in Mexico
[
edit
]
Luis Ghilardi was commissioned to deliver correspondence from Giuseppe Garibaldi to U.S. authorities in
Washington D.C.
, as well as to President
Benito Juarez
in Mexico. He arrived in
New York City
in May 1862 and managed to meet with the charge d'affaires of the Mexican government in Washington, Matias Romero. He corresponded with
General McClellan
and was received by President
Abraham Lincoln
. Ghilardi asked both of them to support the Mexican cause against the intervention due to the
Monroe Doctrine
however, because they were facing the
American Civil War
, they couldn't offer help.
[8]
He landed in
Acapulco
and visited President Juarez in
Mexico City
. In 1863 he joined the Army of the East and participated in the
Siege of Puebla
. In July 1863, he was appointed second chief of the command in Jalisco, at a time when the Mexican troops were trying to reorganize after the defeat suffered in Puebla. After the death of
Ignacio Comonfort
and because the resistance had turned into guerrilla warfare, Ghilardi had decided to abandon his command and return to Europe,
[9]
however, on January 17, 1864, a French commander captured him, along with other Republican officers, in
Colotlan
,
Jalisco
.
[10]
[11]
He was transferred to the city of Aguascalientes where he was court-martialed by General E. L'Heriller, and sentenced to death. The sentence was ratified by Marshal
Francois Achille Bazaine
, commander of the French troops in Mexico.
[9]
His wife and daughter, who were still in Peru, were sent a letter and Ghilardi's belongings through the French consulate.
[12]
Legacy
[
edit
]
In 1925 the historian Alejandro Topete del Valle located his tomb in a pantheon in
Aguascalientes City
.
[13]
In the 1990s, Antonio Peconi, Italian historian, researcher of Italian migration in Mexico, managed to recover a large number of documents, including correspondence, referring to Ghilardi, which he donated to the historical archive of the state of Aguascalientes.
[14]
In 1994 Ghilardi's tomb was rebuilt and a tribute was paid to him, which was attended by the Italian ambassador to Mexico.
[15]
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Luigi_Ghilardi_Plaque.jpg/220px-Luigi_Ghilardi_Plaque.jpg)
There is a plaque in the Jardin Carpio (in the city of Aguascalientes) that indicates the place where General Ghiraldi was executed, with the following mention: "In this place General Luis Ghilardi was executed on March 16, 1864, he died for defending the freedom of Mexico".
Works
[
edit
]
- Curso de Arte y Ciencia Militar
; edited by the Mexican government in 1854.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Peconi, Antonio (1997). Lithografica Central (ed.).
General Luis Ghilardi. Republicano Italiano, heroe mexicano
. Mexico. p. 16.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Ibid
pp. 16-17
- ^
Peconi senala que Ghilardi, tras enterarse del golpe de estado de Ignacio Comonfort, a finales de 1857, "creyo conveniente trasladarse al Peru" p. 20
- ^
"Incidentes con la Santa Sede y Luigi Ghilardi"
. Retrieved
April 2,
2017
.
- ^
Peconi, A.
op.cit.
p. 20
- ^
Ramos Nunez, Carlos Augusto (2005). Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, Fondo Editorial (ed.).
Historia del derecho civil peruano : siglos XIX y XX
. Lima, Peru. p. 539.
ISBN
9789972427411
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
- ^
Carta de
Urbano Rattazzi
a Luis Ghilardi; Turin, 1862. Compilada por Antonio Peconi,
op.cit.
p. 55
- ^
Ibid
pp. 21-26
- ^
a
b
Ibid
p. 28
- ^
"Web del ayuntamiento de Colotlan"
. Archived from
the original
on September 26, 2012.
- ^
Peconi A.
op.cit
p. 28
- ^
Ibid
p. 29
- ^
Segun lo declara Alejandro Topete del Valle en la presentacion del libro de Peconi.
- ^
"Guia general del archivo historico del estado de Aguascalientes"
(PDF)
. Retrieved
April 2,
2017
.
- ^
Topete del Valle,
op.cit.