| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Highlander |
Posted - April 09 2006 : 5:22:38 PM
While Italy as we know it did not officially become a country until 1870,the Italian city-states did contribute people to both sides in F&I in North America.Francois-Charles de Bourlamaque(nee Bourlamacci,1716-1764)was an Italian officer serving in France's service and accompanied Montcalm to North America.It was he who led the siege of Ft.William Henry in 1757. http:www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?Biold=35348&query=
There was also the Chevalier William Peroney(nee Perone d.1755)who was a friend of George Washington and an Ensign at Ft.Necessity.He later became a Captain of the Virginia Rangers and was killed by friendly-fire at Braddock's Defeat.
http://www.pde.state.us/libraries/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=43599
There were also Italians from Tyrol who served in the 60th Royal Americans along with Irishmen and Bohemians.
According to author Michael Barcella,there were Italians who lived in new Orleans since its founding.It is quite likely that Capt.Charles-Philippe Aubry had some with him when he reinforced Ft.Duquesne with Marines and militia in 1758(before Grant's Defeat).
If you liked that,there were also Italians who served with General Custer. http:www.historynet.com/we/blcuster/  |
| 6 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Highlander |
Posted - May 26 2006 : 11:35:40 PM
quote:
Originally posted by morgaine
With the exception of the word macaroni referencing Italian fashion, I did not know about the origin of the song. Thank you for the information. This has all been quite interesting. I have never before heard that there were Italians serving with General Custer.
With regards to the Italians serving with the French in F&I many of their names were "Francophiled." This was especially so in the "La Garde Royale Italien Battalion" & "Saliers Regiments."  |
| Highlander |
Posted - May 22 2006 : 4:47:22 PM
quote:
Originally posted by morgaine
With the exception of the word macaroni referencing Italian fashion, I did not know about the origin of the song. Thank you for the information. This has all been quite interesting. I have never before heard that there were Italians serving with General Custer.
You're very welcome.I got much of my information from author Michael Barcella.His latest work will be about Italians who served with the U.S.Navy/Marines at the Battle of Derna("shores of Tripoli").
The last man to see Gen.Custer alive was trumpeteer Giovanni Martini(John Martin)who was sent with a message to Col.Benteen for help. |
| morgaine |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 9:51:05 PM
With the exception of the word macaroni referencing Italian fashion, I did not know about the origin of the song. Thank you for the information. This has all been quite interesting. I have never before heard that there were Italians serving with General Custer. |
| Highlander |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 8:25:26 PM
Good Stuff.Did you know that the tune "Yankee Doodle" was originally an Italian worksong? It was adopted by the Brits during F&I to make fun of the colonials(Yankee= a NewEnglander and Doodle= a bumpkin).Coincidentally,a "Macaroni" was an Itlaian term for an "outlandish dresser."
Thanks, |
| Monadnock Guide |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 8:24:59 PM
Very interesting to say the least Morgaine. Something that's not generally know, - and should be, thx. |
| morgaine |
Posted - May 21 2006 : 6:48:09 PM
As a proud italian-American, I loved learning this. AND don't forget the Revolutionary period.
http://www.niaf.org/research/contribution.asp
The words in the Declaration of Independence, "All men are created equal" were suggested to Thomas Jefferson by Filippo Mazzei, a Tuscan physician, business man, pamphleteer and Jefferson's friend and neighbor. Mazzei's original words were "All men are by nature equally free and independent."
Two of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Italian origin: William Paca and Caesar Rodney. Paca was one of the first senators in the Maryland state legislature, governor of Maryland (1782 to 1785) and a major general during the Revolutionary War. Rodney of Delaware, descended from the Adelmare family in Treviso, is most remembered for his courageous ride to Philadelphia in July 1776. Though sick with cancer, he rode through thunder and rain to arrive just in time to vote for independence.
Onorio Razzolini was the first Italian American ever to hold public office. He was the U.S. Armourer and Keeper of Stores in Maryland between 1732 and 1747, a duty which essentially put him in charge of defense for the Colony of Maryland.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
From the beginning of U.S. history, Italians have supported American independence.
Three Italian regiments, totaling some 1,500 men, fought for American independence: the Third Piemonte, the 13th Du Perche, and the Royal Italian.
Filippo Mazzei, a Tuscan physician, fought alongside Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry during the American Revolution. Mazzei drew up a plan to capture the British in New York by cutting off their sea escape, and convinced France to help the American colonists financially and militarily in their struggle against British rule. He also inspired the Jeffersonian phrase: "All men are created equal" when he wrote "All men are by nature equally free and independent."
Italian officers in the American Revolution include: Captain Cosimo de Medici of the North Carolina Light Dragoons; Lieutenant James Bracco, 7th Maryland Regiment, killed at the Battle of White Plains; Captain B. Tagliaferro, second in command of the Second Virginia Regiment, a direct subaltern of General George Washington; 2nd Lieutenant Nicola Talliaferro of the 2nd Virginia Regiment; and Colonel Richard Talliaferro, who fell at the Battle of Guilford. Other Italian officers, most from Massachusetts, are on regimental rolls of the Continental Army.
Major John Belli was the Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army from 1792 to 1794. The first settler in Scioto County, Ohio, he lived there until his death in 1809.
Three of the first five warships commissioned by the Continental Congress of the new American government, were named Christopher Columbus, John Cabot and Andrea Doria. Doria was a 16th century navy admiral from Genoa who was still fighting the Barbary pirates in his mid 80s.
Francesco Vigo (1747-1836), is believed the first Italian to become an American citizen. A successful fur trader on the western frontier (today the mid-western states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Vigo served as a colonel, spy, and financier during the American Revolution. He died a pauper, but in 1876 the U.S. government gave his heirs about $50,000 to repay them for Vigo's financial support of the Revolutionary War. Along with George Rogers Clark, he helped settle the Northwest territory.
Prepared by: The National Italian American Foundation
The NIAF thanks military historian Rudy A. D'Angelo for his assistance with this fact sheet.
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