Włosi w Legionach Dąbrowskiego w Italii

Italians in the Dąbrowski Legion in ItalyIn the agreement of 1797 signed between general Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and the government of Lombardy concerning the creation of the Polish Legion, there was no mention of the possibility of Italian citizens joining the Legion. In spite of this, in the years 1797–1807, 53 Italians obtained an officer status in the Legion; among them, there were 31 physicians, and military surgeons, 9 quartermasters, 9 junior officers, 4 chaplains, and 1 officer whose function had not been specified. A small group of Italians who were recruited mainly from among the dissolved Piedmont divisions, also served as non-commissioned officers and private soldiers. As regards the geographical origin of the Italians, the majority of the officers and army officials came from Milan and Lombardy, as well as from Piedmont and Bologna. The majority of the Italians obtained the above posts in the effect of being nominated by the authorities of the Republic of Lombardy which was subsequently transformed into a Cisalpine Republic and finally into the Italian Republic The above decisions were due to the lack of suitable specialists in the Polish Legions, as well as a lack of posts for Italian volunteers in the Cisalpine army.The most valuable group consisted of army physicians who were highly praised for their professional knowledge, intelligence as well as their dedication to the sick and wounded soldiers in their care. The Poles did not have an equally high opinion of the junior officers, as they considered them to be inferior with regard to training and moreover, they thought that the Italians blocked the possibility of promotion for the Polish soldiers. The group which had the worst opinion among the Poles, were the quartermasters, among whom there were many adventurers and careerists. The majority of them had left the Legions following a series of defeats in the II coalition war.4 Italian officers had remained in the Polish army after the liquidation of the legions and they participated in the next Napoleonic campaigns. In spite of the many years of common service in the Legions, no closer ties between the Poles and the Italians had been formed. This fact was largely due to the differences in the social standing of the officers representing the two nations (the Poles represented mainly the nobility, while the Italians chiefly the middle classes), as well as the linguistic and cultural differences, and last but not least different political aspirations. The idea of the common struggle for independence of the Poles and the Italians originated only in the thirties of the 19th century.