Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna"

Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna"
Reggimento "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna"
Regimental coat of arms
Active	3 Jan. 1726 — 16 Oct. 1822 1832 — 21 April 1853 Dec. 1914 — Oct. 1915 10 Sept. 1936 — 5 Dec. 1944
Country	Italy
Branch	Royal Italian Army
Garrison/HQ	Cagliari
Motto(s)	"Solo in sa morte zedere"
Anniversaries	7 July 1918 - Battle of Fier
Decorations	1× Silver Medal of Military Valor
Insignia
Regimental gorget patches

The Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna" (Italian: Reggimento "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna" - "Chevau-légers of Sardinia") is an inactive cavalry unit of the Italian Army. In 1726, the Royal Sardinian Army formed the Dragoons of Sardinia, which were tasked with maintaining order on the recently acquired island of Sardinia. In 1776, the unit was renamed Corps of Light Dragoons of Sardinia and in 1808, during the exile of King Victor Emmanuel I on the island, the corps was expanded and renamed Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna". In 1818, the regiment was renamed Musketeers Corps of Sardinia and one year later Royal Hunters Corps of Sardinia. In 1822, the corps was disbanded and its personnel transferred to the Royal Carabinieri Corps of Sardinia. Due to the sharp increase of brigandage on Sardinia, the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna" was reformed in 1832. In 1853, the regiment was once more disbanded and its personnel transferred to the Royal Carabinieri Corps of Sardinia. In December 1914, shortly before Italy's entry into World War I, the Royal Italian Army formed the X Sardinian Squadrons Group in Ozieri, which consisted of two squadrons recruited on the island. In October 1915, the X Sardinian Squadrons Group was disbanded and the remaining personnel assigned to the 19th Sardinian Squadron, which was sent to the Albanian front. In April 1916, the 19th Sardinian Squadron was attached to the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Lodi" (15th), with which the squadron served until the end of the war. After the end of the war, the 19th Sardinian Squadron was disbanded.

In 1936, the Squadron "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna" was formed in Cagliari with Sardinian personnel. The squadron received the traditions of the Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna" and the 19th Sardinian Squadron. In spring 1940, the squadron was expanded to Squadrons Group "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna". Initially the squadrons group was assigned to the 30th Infantry Division "Sabauda" and then in summer 1943 to the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo". In September 1943, the squadrons group was transferred to the XXXIII Coastal Brigade and in March 1944, to the 47th Infantry Division "Bari". On 5 December 1944, the Squadrons Group "Cavalleggeri di Sardegna" was disbanded. The regiment's anniversary falls on 7 July 1918, the day the 19th Sardinian Squadron distinguished itself in the Battle of Fier in Albania, for which it was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor.

History

In 1701, the Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus II joined the War of the Spanish Succession. The war ended in 1713 with the Peace of Utrecht, which transferred the Kingdom of Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan to Savoy. In October 1713, Victor Amadeus II and his wife, Anne Marie d'Orléans, travelled from Nice to Palermo, where, on 24 December 1713, they were crowned in the cathedral of Palermo King and Queen of Sicily. In July 1718, Spain landed troops on Sicily and tried to recover the Kingdom of Sicily from Savoy rule. On 2 August 1718, Britain, France, Austria, and the Dutch Republic formed an alliance to defeat Spain in the War of the Quadruple Alliance. The war ended in 1720 with the Treaty of The Hague, which restored the position prior to 1717, but with Savoy and the Austria exchanging the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Sicily.

Initially, King Victor Amadeus II sent the Cavalry Regiment "Piemonte Reale", the Royal Fusiliers Regiment, the Regiment of "Savoia", the Regiment of "Saluzzo", and a Swiss mercenary regiment to garrison the island of Sardinia. On 3 January 1726, the Royal Sardinian Army formed three dragoon companies in Pinerolo in Piedmont, whose personnel consisted of veterans drawn from the army's five cavalry regiments. The new unit, which fielded 560 men, was named Dragoons of Sardinia (Italian: Dragoni di Sardegna) and in June of the same year sent to Sardinia, where the companies were dispatched to Sassari, Nuoro, and Oristano, while the unit's headquarter was established in Cagliari. The three companies were further divided into smaller detachments and patrols, which were tasked with fighting brigands and upholding the King's authority in rural Sardinia.

By 1750, the Dragoons of Sardinia maintained detachments in Tempio, Nulvi, Ozieri, Padria, Chiaramonti, Bono, Bortigali, Bolotana, Orosei, and Isili. On 21 September 1764, the Dragoons of Sardinia were reduced to two companies. In 1776, the Dragoons of Sardinia were renamed Corps of Light Dragoons of Sardinia (Italian: Corpo dei Dragoni Leggeri di Sardegna). In 1778, the corps formed two new companies, and the corps' four companies were grouped into two squadrons.

French Revolutionary Wars

In 1792, King Victor Amadeus III joined the War of the First Coalition against the French Republic. On 11 February 1793, 1,200 French soldiers landed on Sardinia at Quartu Sant'Elena. The French then advanced westwards towards Cagliari, but they were driven back by the squadrons of the Light Dragoons of Sardinia. On 3 February 1795, both squadrons were transferred to Piedmont, where they fought against the French. In March 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Italy and took command of the French forces, with which he defeated the Royal Sardinian Army in the Montenotte campaign within a month. After the defeat in the Montenotte campaign King Victor Amadeus III was forced to sign the Treaty of Paris, which ceded the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France and gave the French Revolutionary Army free passage through the Kingdom of Sardinia towards the rest of Italy. The Treaty of Paris also imposed a limit of 10,000 troops on the Royal Sardinian Army, which was forced disband three of its cavalry units located at the time in Piedmont: the Cavalry Regiment "Aosta", the Dragoons of Chablais Regiment, and the two squadrons of the Corps of Light Dragoons of Sardinia. On 26 October 1796, the two squadrons were disbanded and four Light Dragoons of Sardinia companies were transferred to other regiments: the 1st Company to His Majesty's Dragoons Regiment, the 2nd Company to His Majesty's Chevau-légers Regiment, the 3rd Company to the Dragoons of Piedmont Regiment, and the 4th Company to the Queen's Dragoons Regiment.

During the following two years, the four companies of the Corps of Light Dragoons of Sardinia were personnel returning from service in Piedmont and fresh recruits. On 29 November 1798, the War of the Second Coalition began and French forces invaded Piedmont. Already on 6 December 1798, the French occupied Turin and took King Charles Emmanuel IV prisoner. On 8 December 1798, the King was forced to sign a document of abdication, which also ordered his former subjects to recognise French laws and his troops to obey the orders of the French Revolutionary Army. Afterwards, King Charles Emmanuel IV was released and went into exile on the island Sardinia, while his former territories became the French controlled Piedmontese Republic. On 9 December 1798, the Sardinian troops were released from their oath of allegiance to the King and sworn to the Piedmontese Republic. The only exceptions were the Regiment of Sardinia and the Corps of Light Dragoons of Sardinia, which were both based in Sardinia and thus out of reach of the French Army.