Eusebio Bava (6 August 1790 in
Vercelli
Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...
– 30 April 1854 in
Torino
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
) was an Italian general who fought in the
First Italian War of Independence.
Biography
Born at
Vercelli
Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...
, Bava fought as a volunteer under
Napoleonic French flag against
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
in 1806. He took part in the
French campaigns in Spain and Portugal, and was captured by the British at
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
in 1809. After Napoleon's abdication, Bava returned to
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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where king
Victor Emmanuel I
Victor Emmanuel I (Vittorio Emanuele; 24 July 1759 – 10 January 1824) was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia (1802–1821).
Biography
Victor Emmanuel was the second son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonia Ferdinanda ...
integrated his troops in the Piedmontese army as the ''Cacciatori piemontesi'' battalion. In 1838, he was appointed as commander of the
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
division and two years later promoted to lieutenant general.
During the
First Italian War of Independence, general Bava commanded one of the two corps of the
Piedmonese-Sardinian army under
Charles Albert
Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the King of Sardinia from 27 April 1831 until 23 March 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Albertine Statute, and with the First Italian War of Independenc ...
when the latter attacked
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in
Lombardy; however, after the successful
Five Days of Milan
The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan, and in five days of street fighting ...
, the Piedmontese army did not attack the retreating Austrian forces at their most vulnerable point and only followed them up to the
Mincio
The Mincio (; Latin: Mincius, Ancient Greek: Minchios, ''Μίγχιος'', Lombard: Mens, Venetian: Menzo) is a river in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.
The river is the main outlet of Lake Garda. It is a part of the ''Sarca-Mincio'' ...
river. Despite this, he won the first success of the war at
Pastrengo
Pastrengo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about west of Venice and about northwest of Verona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,486 and an area of .All demographics an ...
, and later suggested a plan to draw the enemy to battle; however, the plan was adopted with heavy modifications, which led to the defeat at
Santa Lucia. Despite the war going relatively well, the relationships between Bava and the rest of the leading commanders (the king himself, his Minister of War
Antonio Franzini,
Ettore Gerbaix De Sonnaz, etc.,) became strained, as Charles Albert did not provide his commanders with a firm hand, and the animosity between his counselours made an effective command action very difficult; Bava's own short temper did not help in this regard.
When
Josef Radetzky took the offensive, defeating the Tuscan division at
Curtatone
Curtatone (Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about southwest of Mantua.
The municipality of Curtatone is formed by the ''frazioni'' (subdivi ...
and
Montanara, Bava managed to check his advance with the victory at
Goito
Goito ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' with a population of 10,005 in the Province of Mantua in Lombardy. Goito is north of Mantua on the road leading to Brescia and Lake Garda, and straddles the old east–west Via Postumia between Cremona a ...
; however, this was not followed through yet again, and the Piedmontese command was lulled into inaction. This delay gave Radetzky a chance to resume his offensive, defeating the Piedmontese at
Custoza and force them back to Lombardy; Although the Piedmontese army had still kept its cohesion, Bava was convinced that the campaign had been lost and remained bent on leading it back to Piedmont.
After an armistice was signed on 9 August, Bava, believing that King Charles Albert had proved himself as an unequal commander in chief, remained ''de facto'' the head of the Piedmontese army, and was duly named ''Generale in Capo'' (General in Chief) on October 22. However, when
Wojciech Chrzanowski was appointed by the King as the army's Chief of Staff, Bava, seeing this as yet another sign of the King's meddling in the army, and seen by a portion of the public opinion as responsible for the unsuccessful campaign, published a scathing report on it to exonerate himself and declaring that Charles Albert's indecision had been the biggest factor in the defeat. This led to the King and the government to agree on Bava's dismissal, and on 16 February 1849 he was formally removed from his position, replaced by Chrzanowski (albeit ambiguously as Charles Albert's chief of staff).
Appointed Senator since 1848, Eusebio Bava died in Turin in 1854.
Assessment
Italian military historian
Piero Pieri observed about Bava that, despite his flaws, he was the best army commander available to Sardinia-Piedmont during the ''Risorgimento''.
Sources
Page at Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
* Piero Pieri, ''Storia Militare del Risorgimento'', 1962, Giulio Einaudi Editore, Torino
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bava, Eusebio
1790 births
1854 deaths
People from Vercelli
Italian generals
People of the First Italian War of Independence