France An Al Valore Militare to a French Officer -

[tjnier]

Attached are scans of an Al Valore Militare engraved to a French Captain Mariani of the 6th Hussars. This medal recently emerged from an old collection that had been in storage for years. Some biography can be obtained for French Army officers who served in the 19th century. Hyacinthe Joseph Louis Mariani was born 7 November 1827 in upper Corsica. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 6th Hussars in December 1854, which regiment did not serve in the Crimea.

The 6th Hussars did fight at Solferino in 1859 with over 60 casualties, and received 20 AVM from the Italians. The French Army Annual Directory ("Annuaire Officiel") for 1868 lists him as Captain, 6th Hussars as of December 1857, and holding the Legion of Honor, grade of Chevalier. In the 1870 War with Germany, Mariani was promoted to Major (Chef d'Escadrons) with the 8th Cuirassiers. This regiment fought heroically, with nearly 300 killed or wounded.

Edited December 19, 2009 by tjnier

[Chris Boonzaier]

Fantastic medal!

Usually cavalry losses are more dramtic because the regts are smaller than infantry... ergo 300 men lost % wise is a whole lot of loss to suffer.

[Djedj]

Waow, superb medal !

I can confirm that Mariani was indeed awarded the "Al Valore Militare" Medal - one of 19 (I could only find 19!) officers, NCOs and men of the 6e Hussards.

During the campaign he was Second Captain to the 2nd Squadron of the regiment.

One correction though : the 6e Hussards were not at Solferino, and actually did not see much fighting in Italy.

The regiment was brigaded with the 8e Hussards under Général de Lapérouse, the Brigade joigning the Army Corps of Prince Napoléon.

They did a lot of hard marches across Italy, playing a tactital role in preventing the Austrian armies from bringing reinforcements in.

As for the "Al Valore" medals, they were granted "en masse" to the French Army, and the actual individual dispatching was up the French military authorities.

So no regiment was disregarded, although the allocation of the number of medals by Army Corps / Division / Brigade / Regiment did reflect the role these had in the war : the 19 "Al Valore Militare" to the 6e Hussards can thus be compared to the ...55 awarded to the 2e Hussards - a regiment that did charge at Solferino.

The naming of the medals was done at regimental level - which explains various engraving styles, although directions were given by the Minitry of War.

My only "Al Valore Militare" is also to an officer of the 6e Hussards, Sous-Lieutenant Dubreton :

Note the variations in the engraving (disposition of "Guerre" and "d'Italie", initials...)

This may be due to the fact that Dubreton was on leave in France when the medals were distributed, when Mariani was still with the regiment, that served as occupation force in Milan till the end of May 1860.

My real collectionning is antique photographs, and you may be interested in seeing some rare photos of officers of the 6e Hussards, taken in Milan in early 1860 - here :

http://www.hussards-photos.com/France/France_Livre_Ricordi.htm

Sadly no Mariani portrait, though Harenc de Presle was 2nd Lieutenant to the same squadron.

Salutations,

Jérôme

[francoismln]

Hello,

Hyacinthe-Joseph-Louis MARIANI became later a general. He died in 1894.

His "Etat des services" is available here: http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/leonore_fr?ACTION=RETROUVER&FIELD_1=Cnoms&VALUE_1=mariani&FIELD_2=PRENOMS&VALUE_2=&FIELD_3=DATE%2dNSS&VALUE_3=&FIELD_4=LIEU%2dNSS&VALUE_4=&FIELD_5=Nom%20de%20jeune%20fille&VALUE_5=&FIELD_6=SEXE&VALUE_6=%20&FIELD_7=COTE&VALUE_7=&NUMBER=23&GRP=0&REQ=%28%28mariani%29%20%3aNOM%2cNOM2%2cNOM%2dJF%2cNOM%2dMARI%2cSURNOM%2cNOTES%20%29&USRNAME=nobody&USRPWD=4%24%2534P&SPEC=9&SYN=1&IMLY=&MAX1=1&MAX2=1&MAX3=100&DOM=All

Best regards.

Francois

[francoismln]

Here comes a picture of Mariani:

You will find a biography ther: http://www.ecole-superieure-de-guerre.fr/hyacinthe-joseph-louis-mariani.html

Best regards.

Francois

Edited May 6, 2015 by francoismln