Verità dimezzate. Le contrastanti versioni dei generali costituzionali sulla sconfitta di Rieti (7 marzo) e Antrodoco (9-10 marzo 1821)
The defeat of the constitutional army of general Guglielmo Pepe, which happened in Rieti and Antrodoco between the 7th and the 10th of March of 1821, was the end of the liberal government, born in Naples after the Carbonari uprising of the July of the previous year. The sources, from which the histo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Gruppo editoriale Tab S.r.l.
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Nuova Antologia Militare |
| Online Access: | https://www.tabedizioni.it/web/content/350595 |
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| Summary: | The defeat of the constitutional army of general Guglielmo Pepe, which happened in Rieti and Antrodoco between the 7th and the 10th of March of 1821, was the end of the liberal government, born in Naples after the Carbonari uprising of the July of the previous year. The sources, from which the historiography (both contemporary and after the event) was inspired by during these two centuries, are essentially three: History of the Realm of Naples, by Pietro Colletta (the most successful source), Minister of War ad interim at the time, the Mémoires of Michele Carrascosa, commander in chief of the Second Army Corps, deployed at the Antrodoco frontier with the Papal States, and, to a lesser extent, the Memorie of Guglielmo Pepe, commander in chief of the Second Army Corps, stationed on the Abruzzo salient. Colletta and Carrascosa both present the fight as a mere skirmish, lost, according to them, due to the disobedience, unskillfulness, and cowardice of Pepe, and due to the predominant disorder between soldiers and legionaries. Of course, Pepe’s defense is much more detailed, underlining the circumstances that forced him to attack, and the firm and resolute demeanor of his men in the hottest phases of the fight. We’re thus presented with divergent narratives, which don’t make it easier to understand what happened on the Abruzzo salient before, during and after the battle. Each of the three generals had his share of responsibility in the defeat, and the respective versions are therefore strongly influenced by the intent to shift the blame onto colleagues, but also onto subordinates and the political climate. More spotlight wasn’t given to works published on the matter by subsequent authors, which we cannot examine here due to the smallness of space at our disposal, but we can surely say that, in the presence of sources so divergent and distant from one another, the various authors split and gave credits to either Colletta or Carrascosa, and rarely to Pepe. However, the comparison of their versions with the Austrian report and other documents allows us to reconstruct with good approximation the actual progress of the battle. |
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| ISSN: | 2704-9795 |