Pietro Teulié (3 February 1769 – 18 June 1807) was an Italian

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 ...

who served in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He was killed during the siege of the

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 ...

n fortress of Kolberg.

Biography

He was born in Milan, the son of Filippo and Teresa Crippa. His father, a state officer, was the last descendant of a medium-class family from

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

, and tried to make him a lawyer, with scarce results.

Early Service, 1796-1800

In 1796, when the French with

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

entered Milan, he joined the

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of the

Cisalpine Republic The Cisalpine Republic ( it, Repubblica Cisalpina) was a sister republic of France in Northern Italy that existed from 1797 to 1799, with a second version until 1802. Creation After the Battle of Lodi in May 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte organiz ...

, as the second-in-command of Duke Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni. On 15 October he was moved to the

Lombard Legion The Lombard Legion (''Legione Lombarda'') was a military unit of the Cisalpine Republic which existed from 1796 until the Republic's fall in 1799. The Lombard Legion was the first Italian military department to equip itself, as a banner, with an It ...

as head of battalion and ''aide-de-camp'' to the Mantuan general Giuseppe Lahoz Ortiz, and in this capacity served during the French invasion of the

Papal State The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. At the Battle of Senio General Lahoz was wounded and he took command of the entire Legion, defeating the far more numerous Pontificians and capturing over one thousand prisoners, four banners and fourteen guns. He then conquered the fort of San Leo. In February 1799 he commanded the territorial division of Ferrara, and later served under General Garnier as his chief of staff, during the disastrous campaign against the Austro-Russian forces. Besieged with a handful of men in Castel Sant'Angelo, he surrendered only on the guarantee of military honours and a safeconduct, taking a ship that brought him in France. He then started to reorganise the troops of the collapsed Cisalpine Republic in the new Italian Legion, commanded by general

Giuseppe Lechi Giuseppe ("Joseph") Lechi (5 December 1766 – 9 August 1836) was an Italian general in the Kingdom of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. Biography Born in Aspes and being the first son of Faustino Lechi and his wife Doralice Bielli, the genera ...

, in which many officers and petty officers, due to the lack of recruits, served as simple soldiers. He distinguished himself during the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General Mich ...

, and was promoted to the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. In December 1800 the nicknamed "Teulié Brigade" was attached to the division of General Brune, who was ordered to attack in the

Tirol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

to cut the Austrian communication lines. The short campaign was a complete success, and Brune later write on him: "We due every praise to the unshackable courage and capable direction of General Teulié".

The Italian Kingdom, 1800-1806

He was nominated

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of the

in April 1802, but left the position shortly after, possibly for his contrast with the Frenchmen that opposed his project of an independent Italian Army in an independent Italian state. In 1803 his brigade was part of the 2nd Italian Division of general Domenico Pino on

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, and, the following year, received the cross of the

Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

by the

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himself. After a false accuse, he was subsequently removed and imprisoned, but

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

eventually restored him in his position and honours, giving him the rank of division general and the command of the Pino's Division. He was awarded, in 1806, with the just instituted

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

The War of the Fourth Coalition

After a brief service in the quarters of Boulogne, he distinguished himself leading his division in the

War of the Fourth Coalition The Fourth Coalition fought against Napoleon's French Empire and were defeated in a war spanning 1806–1807. The main coalition partners were Prussia and Russia with Saxony, Sweden, and Great Britain also contributing. Excluding Prussia, ...

. He won the Prussian in Stargard and Neugarten, and was afterward placed as

military governor A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...

. The 24 February 1807 passed the Persante river and moved with a forced march on Kolberg. His commander, Marshal Berthier wrote of him: "Teulié with his men goes on a double pace; he has completely beaten the defenders of Kolberg and locked them into the fortress."

Death at Kolberg

The 14 March 1807 he started the siege of Kolberg, under general Loison, who let him command all the siege operations. On the 12 June 1807, during a first line combat, a grenade killed two of his men and struck him in his leg. He died six days after from tetanus.

Legacy

His name was inscribed on the 17th column of the Arc de Triomphe in

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, one of the few Italian generals to have his name inscribed. According to his last will, his body was then buried in the Military Orphanage for Our Fallen's Children, in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, now the Italian Military School "Teulié", named after him.

Awards

* Officer of the Legion d'Honneur * Commander of the Order of the Iron Crown

References

*''This article is based on a translation of the equivalent article of the

Italian Wikipedia The Italian Wikipedia ( it, Wikipedia in italiano) is the Italian-language edition of Wikipedia. This edition was created on May 11, 2001 and first edited on June 11, 2001. As of , , it has articles and more than registered accounts. It is t ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Teulie, Pietro 1769 births 1807 deaths Italian generals Military personnel killed in the Napoleonic Wars Italian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Officers of the Legion of Honour Knights of the First French Empire Military personnel from Milan Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe