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FANTI, MANFREDO (1806-1865)

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 171 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FANTI, MANFREDO (1806-1865) , See also:Italian See also:general, was See also:born at See also:Carpi and educated at the military See also:college of See also:Modena. In 1831 he was implicated in the revolutionary See also:movement organized by Ciro Menotti (see Fn NCIs IV., of Modena), and was condemned to See also:death and hanged in effigy, but escaped to See also:France, where he was given an See also:appointment in the See also:French See also:corps of See also:engineers. In 1833 he took See also:part in Mazzini's abortive See also:attempt to invade See also:Savoy, and in 1835 he went to See also:Spain to serve in See also:Queen See also:Christina's See also:army against the Carlists. There he remained fo+' thirteen years, distinguishing himself in See also:battle and rising to a high See also:staff appointment. But on the outbreak of the See also:war between See also:Piedmont and See also:Austria in 1848 he hurried back to See also:Italy, and although at first his services were rejected both by the Piedmontese See also:government and the Lombard provisional government, he was afterwards given the command of a Lombard See also:brigade. In the general confusion following on See also:Charles See also:Albert's defeat on the Mincio and his See also:retreat to See also:Milan, where the See also:people See also:rose against the unhappy See also:king, Fanti's courage and tact saved the situation. He was elected member of the Piedmontese chamber in 1849, and on the renewal of the See also:campaign he again commanded a Lombard brigade under General Ramorino. After the Piedmontese defeat at See also:Novara (23rd of See also:March) See also:peace was made, but a rising See also:broke out at See also:Genoa, and Fanti with See also:great difficulty restrained his See also:Lombards from taking part in it. But he was suspected as a Mazzinian and a soldier of See also:fortune by the higher Piedmontese See also:officers, and they insisted on his being See also:court-martialled for his operations under Ramorino (who had been tried and shot). Although honourably acquitted, he was not employed again until the See also:Crimean expedition of 1855. In the second See also:Austrian war in 1859 Fanti commanded the and See also:division, and contributed to the victories of Palestro, See also:Magenta and See also:San Martino. After the peace of Villafranca he was sent to organize the army of the Central Italian See also:League (composed of the See also:pro-visional governments of See also:Tuscany, Modena, See also:Parma and Romagna), and converted it in a few months into a well-drilled See also:body of 45,000 men, whose See also:function was to be ready to intervene in the papal states on the outbreak of a revolution.

He showed statesmanlike qualities in steering a clear course between the exaggerated prudence of See also:

Baron See also:Ricasoli, who wished to recall the troops from the frontier, and the impetuosity of See also:Garibaldi, his second-in-command, who was anxious to invade Romagna prematurely, even at the See also:risk of Austrian intervention. Fanti's firmness led to Garibaldi's resignation. In See also:January 186o Fanti became See also:minister of war and marine under See also:Cavour, and incorporated the League's army in that of Piedmont. In the meanwhile Garibaldi had invaded See also:Sicily with his Thousand, and King See also:Victor See also:Emmanuel decided at last that he too must intervene; Fanti was given the See also:chief command of a strong Italian force which invaded the papal states, seized See also:Ancona and other fortresses, and defeated the papal army at Castelfidardo, where the enemy's See also:commander, General See also:Lamoriciere, was captured. In three See also:weeks Fanti had conquered the See also:Marche and See also:Umbria and taken 28,000 prisoners. When the army entered Neapolitan territory the king took the chief command, with Fanti as chief of the staff. After defeating a large Neapolitan force at Mola and organizing the See also:siege operations See also:round See also:Gaeta, Fanti returned to the war See also:office at See also:Turin to carry out important army reforms. His attitude in opposing the See also:admission of Garibaldi's 7000 officers into the See also:regular army with their own grades made him the See also:object of great unpopularity for a See also:time, and led to a severe reprimand from Cavour. On the death of the latter (7th of See also:June 1861) he resigned office and took command of the VII. army corps. But his See also:health had now broken down, and after four years' suffering he died in See also:Florence on the 5th of See also:April 1865. His lose was greatly See also:felt in the war of 1866. See Carandini, Vita di M.

Fanti (See also:

Verona, 1872); A. Di Giorgio, Il Generale M. Fanti (Florence, 1906).

End of Article: FANTI, MANFREDO (1806-1865)

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