Pietro Colletta (January 23, 1775 – November 11, 1831) was a

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, entered the Neapolitan artillery in 1796 and took part in the campaign against the French in 1798.

Biography

Colletta was born in

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 ...

. On the entry of the French into the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

and the establishment of the

Parthenopaean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by th ...

(1799), Colletta adhered to the new government. When the Bourbon king Ferdinand IV reconquered the city, Colletta was thrown into prison and only escaped the death penalty by means of judiciously administered bribes. Turned out of the army, he became a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. When the Bourbons were expelled a second time in 1806 and

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 ...

seized the throne of Naples, he was reinstated in his rank and served in the expedition against the brigands and rebels of

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. In 1812, Colletta was promoted to general, and made director of roads and bridges. He served 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 ...

and fought 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 at the

Battle of the Panaro The Battle of the Panaro (or Modena or Castelfranco) was a victory for King Joachim Murat's Neapolitan forces over a smaller Austrian force under Frederick Bianchi on 3 April 1815 early in the Neapolitan War. This defeat on the banks on the ...

in 1815. On the restoration of Ferdinand, Colletta was permitted to retain his rank in the army, and was given command of the Salerno division. At the outbreak of the revolution of 1820 the king called him to his councils, and, when the constitution had been granted, Colletta was sent to put down the separatist rising in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, which he did with great severity. He fought in the constitutionalist army against the Austrians at

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

(March 7, 1821). On the re-establishment of autocracy, he was arrested and imprisoned for three months by order of the Prince of Canosa, the chief of police and his particular enemy. He would have been executed had not the Austrians intervened in his favour, and he was exiled instead to

Brünn Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inha ...

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...

. In 1823, he was permitted to settle in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, where he spent the rest of his days engaged on his ''Storia del reame di Napoli''.

Works

* ''Pochi fatti su Gioacchino Murat'', Napoli: presso la Società tipografica, 1820 * ''Storia del reame di Napoli dal 1734 sino al 1825'', Capolago: Tipografia Elvetica, 1834''Storia del reame di Napoli dal 1734 al 1825'' online
Tomo ITomo IITomo IIITomo IV
/ref> * ''Storia della campagna d'Italia del 1815: opera postuma'', Torino: Gianini e Fiore, 1847 * ''Cenno storico intorno alla rivoluzione napoletana del 1820'', Napoli, 1848 His ''Storia del reame di Napoli dal 1734 sino al 1825'' (first published in 1834), which deals with the reigns of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

and Ferdinand IV (1734–1825), is still the standard work for that period, but its value is somewhat diminished by the authors bitterness against his opponents and the fact that he does not provide references for his statements, many of which are based on his recollection of documents seen, but not available at the time of writing. Still, having been an actor in many of the events recorded, he is on the whole accurate and trustworthy.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colletta, Pietro 1775 births 1831 deaths Military personnel from Naples Italian generals 19th-century Italian historians Italian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Writers from Naples People of the Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic) People of the Parthenopean Republic