Guglielmo Pepe (13 February 1783 – 8 August 1855) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
general
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
and patriot. He was brother to
Florestano Pepe and cousin to
Gabriele Pepe. He was married to Mary Ann Coventry, a Scottish woman who was the widow of
John Borthwick Gilchrist, linguist and surgeon to the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
.
Biography
Pepe was born at
Squillace
Squillace ( grc, Σκυλλήτιον ''Skylletion''; grc-x-medieval, Σκυλάκιον ''Skylakion'') is an ancient town and ''comune'', in the Province of Catanzaro, part of Calabria, southern Italy, facing the Gulf of Squillace.
Squillace ...
in
Calabria.
He entered the army at an early age, but in 1799 he took part in the
Neapolitan Republic, inspired by the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
. While fighting against the Bourbon troops, which were led by
Cardinal Ruffo, he was captured and exiled to France. He entered Napoleon's army and served with distinction in several campaigns, including those in the Neapolitan kingdom: first under
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
, and later under
Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
.
After commanding a Neapolitan brigade in the Peninsular campaign, Pepe returned to Italy in 1813, with the rank of general, to help reorganize the Neapolitan army. When news of the fall of Napoleon (1814) reached Italy, Pepe and several other generals tried, without success, to force
Murat to grant a constitution as the only means of saving the kingdom from foreign invasion and the return of the Bourbons.
On Napoleon's escape from
Elba
Elba ( it, isola d'Elba, ; la, Ilva) is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano Nationa ...
(1815) Murat, after some hesitation, placed himself on the emperor's side and waged war against the
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 ...
ns, with Pepe on his staff. After several engagements the Neapolitans were forced to retire after the
Battle of Tolentino (in which Pepe participated), and eventually agreed to the
Treaty of Casalanza, according to which Murat was to abandon the kingdom; but the Neapolitan officers retained their rank under
Ferdinand IV, who now regained the throne of Naples.
While engaged in suppressing brigandage in the Capitanata, Pepe organized the
carbonari
The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...
into a national militia, intending to use them for political purposes. He had hoped that the king would grant a constitution; but when that hope failed he contemplated seizing
Ferdinand, the emperor of Austria, and
Metternich
Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...
, who were expected at
Avellino, in order to compel them to install a liberal constitution in Italy (1819). The scheme broke down through an accident, but in the following year a military rising broke out, the mutineers cheering for the king and the constitution. Pepe himself was sent against them; but while he was deciding on which course to follow, Ferdinand promised a constitution (July 1820). A revolt in Sicily having been repressed, Pepe was appointed inspector-general of the army.
Meanwhile, the king, who had no intention of respecting the constitution, went to the
Congress of Laibach
The Congress of Laibach was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives, held in 1821 as part of the Congress System (the forerunner of the Concert of Europe) which was the decided attempt of the five Great Powers to settle inte ...
to confer with the sovereigns of the holy alliance assembled there, leaving his son as regent. The king obtained the loan of an Austrian army with which to restore absolute power, while the regent dallied with the Liberals. Pepe, who in parliament had spoken in favour of deposing the king, now took command of the army and marched against the Austrians. He attacked them at
Rieti (March, 1821), but his raw levies were repulsed.
The army was gradually disbanded. Pepe then spent several years in England, France and other countries, publishing a number of books and pamphlets of a political character and keeping up his connection with the Carbonari. When the
1848 revolution
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...
and war broke out all over Italy, Pepe returned to Naples, where a constitution had again been proclaimed. He was given command of the Neapolitan army, which was to co-operate with Piedmont against the Austrians. However, when he reached Bologna, the king, who had already changed his mind, recalled him and his troops. Pepe, after hesitating between his desire to fight for Italy and his oath to the king, resigned his commission in the Neapolitan service and crossed the
Po with 2,000 volunteers to take part in the campaign. After a good deal of fighting in Venetia, he joined
Manin in the
siege of Venice and took command of the defending army. When the city was forced by hunger to surrender to the Austrians, Pepe and Manin were among those excluded from the amnesty.
He again went into exile and died in
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 ...
in 1855.
Works
*''Relazione delle circostanze relative agli avvenimenti politici e militari in Napoli nel 1820 e 1821
..' (1822)
*''Memorie'' (1847)
*''L'Italie politique et ses rapports avec la France et l'Angleterre'' (1848)
*''Casi d'Italia negli anni 1847, 48 e 49 : continuazione delle memorie del generale Guglielmo Pepe'' (1851)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepe, Guglielmo
1783 births
1855 deaths
Italian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars
Italian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
18th-century Italian people
People from Squillace
Italian generals
Italian soldiers
French soldiers
Italian people of the Italian unification
People of the First Italian War of Independence
Italian exiles
People of the Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)