L’esercito dissolto: Gaetano Abela e la IV Divisione Val di Noto nella rivoluzione siciliana del 1820-21

Abstract

The article reconstructs, starting from the study of a portrait, the events of a military unit of the Sicilian revolutionary army of 1820, the 4th Division Val di Noto, and its commander, Colonel Gaetano Abela: patriot, Knight of Malta, former officer of the Napoleonic Army. During the march to the theater of war operations, the troops mutinied against the officers, and the division remained with a few soldiers, being effectively merged with the 2nd Division commanded by the Prince of Fiumesalato. The Sicilian surrender in the hands of the Neapolitan general Florestano Pepe dissolved the army, but, when the Neapolitan Parliament did not ratify the pacts, Abela resumed his arms; he was captured and, after several complex trial phases, was sentenced to death.