Giuseppe Antonio Baudoin was an Italian major of the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence ( it, Terza Guerra d'Indipendenza Italiana) was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in ...

and the

First Italo-Ethiopian War The First Italo-Ethiopian War, lit. ''Abyssinian War'' was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-sc ...

. He commanded the 9th Africa Infantry Battalion during the

Battle of Adwa The Battle of Adwa (; ti, ውግእ ዓድዋ; , also spelled ''Adowa'') was the climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian forces defeated the Italian invading force on Sunday 1 March 1896, near the town of Adwa. The de ...

before being killed in the battle. He was a posthumous recipient of the

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

for his service in the battle.

Childhood

Giuseppe was born on February 25, 1843 at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

as the son of Giovanbattista and Sabina Ciabaud. He spent his childhood within

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

and initially took interest in the natural landscapes of Provence. Since he was an only child, his parents were affectionate towards him and Giuseppe spent time within his father's industry. After Nice was annexed by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on November 18, 1860, Baudoin found a personal motivation to volunteer in the Royal Italian Army and was placed at the 19th Infantry Regiment.

Military career

By June 17, 1866, he was already promoted to Second Lieutenant within the

65th Infantry Regiment The 65th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Borinqueneers" during the Korean War for the original Taíno Indian name for Puerto Rico (Borinquen), is a Puerto Rican regiment of the United States Army. The regiment's motto is ''Honor et Fidelita ...

. During the

, he was given command of the Sirtori Division of the regiment and participating in the Battle of Custoza on June 24, 1866, managing to earn the

Bronze Medal of Military Valor The Bronze Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold and Silver Medals for Military ...

for his participation in the battle. He then participated at the Capture of Rome and around the same time, managing to rescue civilians from a fire at

Grotte di Castro Grotte di Castro is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Viterbo in the Italian region Latium, located about northwest of Rome and about northwest of Viterbo Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in ...

and for his service, was awarded the civil variant of the

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

. Baoudoin was then transferred to the 4th Bersaglieri Infantry Regiment on July 1872. He was promoted to Lieutenant on November 1, 1874 and on January 1884, to captain within the 11th Infantry Regiment. He was then an aide-de-camp in Brescia Brigade on September 1892 and later on December 1894, he was promoted to major and given command in the Macerata Military District. On April 26, 1895, Baudoin married Athalie Maria Hervey Brabazon on April 26, 1895. He then traveled to Eritrea and he formed the 9th African Infantry Battalion on December 15, 1895 with volunteers from the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

and 36th infantry regiments and left

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and landed at Massawa on January 2, 1896. Assigned to the 2nd regiment of the 1st infantry brigade under General

Giuseppe Arimondi Giuseppe Edoardo Arimondi, OSML, OMS, OCI (26 April 1846 – 1 March 1896) was an Italian general, mostly known for his role during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. He was one of the few European commanders who gained a victory over the Mahdis ...

on the morning of March 1, 1896, he reached the western ridge of Monte Raio at 9.30. But after a short time, due to the withdrawal of the indigenous brigade of General Matteo Albertone, he found himself in a critical situation. The 9th Battalion, supported by Baudoin's leadership, admirably held their ground against the Shaan hordes until becoming overwhelmed by increasingly larger forces and the Battalion was annihilated along with Baudoin himself as he was shot dead.

Medal Citation

Baudoin was posthumously awarded the

for his service in the battle. His medal citation reads:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baudoin, Giuseppe 1843 births 1896 deaths Italian Army officers People from Nice Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Italian military personnel of the First Italo-Ethiopian War Italian military personnel killed in the First Italo-Ethiopian War