The Lombard Legion (''Legione Lombarda'') was a military unit 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 ...

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 Italian tricolor flag.

History

It was formed on 8 October 1796 by

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 ...

, then commander of the Armee d'Italie. Its theoretical full strength was 3740 men made up of a hussar company, an artillery company and seven 500-man infantry cohorts (3 from

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 ...

, 1 from Cremona and Casalmaggiore, 1 from Lodi and

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

, 1 from

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

and 1 miscellaneous cohort of Italian nationalists, mainly from the

Papal States 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 ...

and the Kingdom of Sicily). It was commanded by the former Milanese nobleman, general Trivulzio and included

Ugo Foscolo Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and a poet. He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem ''Dei Sepolcri''. Early life Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the Io ...

and

Vincenzo Cuoco Vincenzo Cuoco (October 1, 1770 – December 14, 1823) was an Italian writer. He is mainly remembered for his ''Saggio Storico sulla Rivoluzione Napoletana del 1799'' ("Historical Essay on the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799"). He is a considered o ...

among its soldiers. 2720 had been recruited by 18 October and on 6 November 1796 it and several other units were ceremonially presented with their standards in the piazza outside Milan Cathedral - they were in red, white and green, which would become the

national colours of Italy The national colours of Italy are green, white, and red, collectively known in Italian as ''il Tricolore'' ( en, the Tricolour, ). The three Italian national colours appeared for the first time in Genoa on 21 August 1789 on the cockade of Italy ...

. The Lombard Legion was the first Italian military department to equip itself, as a banner, with a tricolor flag. It fought at the battle of Arcole on 15 November 1796 and then against papal forces on the river Senio. The Legion's fourth cohort joined Cisalpine troops to put down insurrections at Pesaro then at

Urbino Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of F ...

. By February 1797 it was stationed in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

and on 26 February 1797 it was reorganised into two demi-brigades of three cohorts, an artillery company and a hussar company and at the end of that year the Cisapadane Legion merged into it - that unit had been made up of 6 cohorts of 1,000 men and became the Lombard Legion's third demi-brigade. By then the Legion had been moved to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

in support of French forces fighting in the

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

before being divided up between Corfu, Peschiera and

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuli ...

- the elements of the Legion still in Italy on the

treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

of 17 October 1797 returned to Lombardy. The Lombard Legion became part of the Cisalpine Army in April 1798, then made up of eight demi-brigades, though this had fallen to four by the following November. The Legion's fourth cohort was attached to General

Jean Étienne Championnet Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

's army to fight in Naples in 1798 and the following year the Legion's second demi-brigade formed part of the army of Rome sent to attack the Kingdom of Naples under General Domenico Pino. It broke up after the Republic's fall in 1799 but some survivors from the unit moved to France, where they joined survivors from the armed forces of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

and the Neapolitan Republic to form the Italic Legion (''Legione Italica''), also known as the Italian Legion (''Legione Italica''). This formed part of Bonaparte's reserve force for the second Italian campaign and fought the Austrians at

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...

External links

* {{Authority control Volunteer units and formations of the French Revolutionary Wars 18th-century disestablishments in Italy 18th-century establishments in Italy 1796 in Italy 1797 in Italy 1798 in Italy 1799 in Italy Cisalpine Republic