Maj. Gen.

Giuseppe Ellena
Born(1839-03-29)29 March 1839
Saluzzo, Piedmont, Italy
Died24 November 1918(1918-11-24) (aged 79)
Florence, Tuscany, Italy
Allegiance Kingdom of Italy
RankMajor General
Battles/wars

Major General Giuseppe Ellena (29 March 1839 – 24 November 1918) was an Italian artillery officer who fought in the First Italo-Ethiopian War. He was also a professor of hydraulics and architecture.

Biography

Ellena was born in Saluzzo on 29 March 1839.[1][2]

Ellena joined the Italian Military after getting a degree in engineering, and would become an artillery officer in 1859. He would serve in the Austro-Italian War of 1866 and become teacher at the Artillery and Engineering School of Turin.[3]

Using his knowledge as an artillery officer, in 1873 Ellena wrote about the science behind artillery shells and the utility of regimental schools.[4] On 16 March 1893 Ellena was granted the rank of Major General for his long military career and academic work in the study of artillery and regimental schools.[2]

Battle of Adwa

Ellena arrived in Eritrea on 17 February 1896, having left Italy with a group of reinforcements on 25 January 1896, and would quickly find himself under the command of Oreste Baratieri.[5][6] A this point in his career, he was considered one of the best artillery officers in the Italian Army.[7] He was the oldest and latest of the five Italian generals at the Battle of Adwa to enter Africa. Despite being the oldest, he deferred to the other officers at the prebattle discussions, although they looked to him to share what the political situation was back in Rome.[8] He would agree with the offensive that would result in the battle.[9][10]

The battle took place on 1 March 1896. During it, Ellena commanded the 3rd infantry brigade, which served as reserves, following the centre.[11][12] The Italian forces lost and Ellen found himself assisting Baratieri in the retreat.[13][14] Three of the other four generals died at the battle and the remaining one, Matteo Albertone, was taken prisoner.[15] Of the deceased generals' forces, Giuseppe Arimondi's men would retreat to Ellena's position on Mount Roja and help form the rearguard for the retreat.[16]

Ellena himself was injured during the battle, resulting in him being taken to a military hospital. While there he would pen letters blaming the loss on a lack of intelligence, geographical knowledge, and no retreat plans in place.[17][18] Soon after the battle, he returned to Italy.[5] Ellena received heavy criticism for leaving Africa so quickly after the defeat, but would continue to maintain regular correspondence with Baratieri; during which he blamed the loss on the disobedience of the other generals: Albertone, Arimondi, and Vittorio Dabormida.[8]

Ellena died in 1918 in Florence.[3][18]

Written works

  • Nozioni: sulle polveri, sulle munizioni e sugli artifizi da guerra, compiled by Ellena was published in 1873[19]

References

  1. ↑ Lemmi, Francesco (1936). Lettere e diari d'Africa, 1895-96 (in Italian). Edizioni Roma.
  2. 1 2 Gubernatis, Angelo De (1895). Piccolo dizionario dei contemporanei italiani (in Italian). Forzani e c.
  3. 1 2 Uhlig, Siegbert; Bausi, Alessandro; Yimam, Baye (2003). Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha. Isd. ISBN 978-3-447-05238-2.
  4. ↑ Sciences et art militaires (in French). Dépôt de la guerre Bibliothèque. 1884.
  5. 1 2 Tafla, Bairu; Ilg, Alfred; Menelik II, Emperor of Ethiopia (2000). Ethiopian records of the Menilek era: selected Amharic documents from the Nachlass of Alfred Ilg, 1884-1900. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-04258-1.
  6. ↑ Vitale, Massimo Adolfo (1959). L'Italia in Africa: serie storico-militare (in Italian). Istituto poligrafico dello Stato.
  7. ↑ Caulk, Richard Alan (2002). "Between the Jaws of Hyenas": A Diplomatic History of Ethiopia, 1876-1896. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3-447-04558-2.
  8. 1 2 Jonas, Raymond (2011-11-29). The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06279-5.
  9. ↑ Förster, Stig; Pöhlmann, Markus; Walter, Dierk (2001). Schlachten der Weltgeschichte: von Salamis bis Sinai (in German). C.H.Beck. ISBN 978-3-406-48097-3.
  10. ↑ Milkias, Paulos; Metaferia, Getachew (2005). The Battle of Adwa: Reflections on Ethiopia's Historic Victory Against European Colonialism. Algora Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87586-414-3.
  11. ↑ Stephenson, Charles (2014-12-19). A Box of Sand: The Italo-Ottoman War 1911-1912. Tattered Flag. ISBN 978-0-9576892-7-5.
  12. ↑ Crimi, Alessio (2006). "Colonialismo italiano: alcune riflessioni" (in Italian). University of Catania. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ↑ McLachlan, Sean (2011-09-20). Armies of the Adowa Campaign 1896: The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84908-458-1.
  14. ↑ Wylde, Augustus Blandy (1900). Modern Abyssinia. Methuen & Company.
  15. ↑ Pankhurst, Richard (2005). Historic Images of Ethiopia. Shama Books. ISBN 978-99944-0-015-7.
  16. ↑ Bruce, Robert B.; Jestice, Phyllis G.; Reid, Stuart; Rice, Rob S.; Schneid, Frederick C. (2009-11-24). Fighting Techniques of the Colonial Age: 1776--1914 Equipment, Combat Skills and Tactics. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-59092-5.
  17. ↑ Fedoroff, V. (1896). "Abyssinia: A Brief Sketch of Its Geography and History". Journal of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies. Vol. 40. W. Mitchell and Son.
  18. 1 2 Croce, Benedetto; Cassani, Cinzia; Craveri, Piero (2004). Taccuini di guerra, 1943-1945 (in Italian). Adelphi. ISBN 978-88-459-1882-7.
  19. ↑ Ellena, Giuseppe (1873). Nozioni sulle polveri, sulle munizioni e sugli artifizi da guerra ad uso delle scuole reggimentali ... compilate da Giuseppe Ellena (in Italian). Stamp. dell'Unione Tipografico-Editrice.
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