esercito e città dall'unità agli anni trenta. tomo i - Sistema ...

194 ANTHONY L. CARDOZA
Incisa's early enthusiasm for the military, and the Cavalry in particular,
reflected the enduring hold of family traditions. As he himself recalled, « io
avevo fin da piccolo fermamente deciso che sarei stato un soldato com'era
stato mio padre, suo padre, e il padre di suo padre: in cavalleria
naturalmente . . . >> 34. The rituals of everyday life in the countryside
recapitulated and revitalized tradition. At an early age, for example, Incisa
an d his brothers learned the intricacies of horsemanship « prima su un ciuco,
poi su un 'ponetto', poi su una 'cavalcatura di campagna' e finalmente su
un cavallo vero » 35. Before they were in their teens, the boys were already
accompanying their father on two or three hour rides several times a week
to oversee the various seasonal agricultural works. Special events such as
the occasionai passage of a cavalry regiment on manuevers through Rocchetta
di Tanaro or the two visits by King Vittorio Emanuele III to the family
villa seemed to make a tremendous impression on the young Incisa and
confirm his commitment t o military servi ce in the Cavalry 36.
For many Piedmontese families, a career in the army not only meant
a gentlemanly pursuit; it also provided much needed work and income to
sons, w ho might otherwise divide and fragment the patrimony of the casata.
The Piedmontese nobility had never been blessed with great wealth or landholdings,
especially in comparison to the Roman or French aristocracies.
Even the very richest titled gentlemen almost never possessed over 2000
hectares of land; most had considerably less 37. The abolition of the law of
primogeniture and the introduction of the legittima in the nineteenth century
further threatened these modest assets by requiring that on the death
of the parent half the estate by divided equally among ali the legitimate
heirs 38. Under the circumstances, the military profession offered an
honorable way of preserving intact much, if not ali, the family patrimony.
As officers, the younger sons earned a steady income that allowed them to
receive their inheritance in annual installments over decades rather than in
34 Ibid, p. 51.
35 !bid, pp. 29-3 1.
36 Ibid, pp. 12-20, 32-33.
37 This statement rests upon probate records and other patrimonial documents for
more than 75 of the leading aristocratic families of Piedmont. Irt addition, see S. ].
WOOLF, " Studi sulla nobiltà piemontese nell'epoca dell'assolutismo " in Memorie dell'Accademia
delle Scienze di Torino, Serie 4a, n. 5, Torino 1963, pp. 136-170; LUIGI BuLFE­
RETTI, " I piemontesi più ricchi negli ultimi cento anni dell'assolutismo sabaudo , in Studi
storici in onore di Gioacchino Volpe, Vol. I, Florence 1958.
38 See ALBERTO MARIA BANTI, " Una fonte per lo studio delle élites ottocentesche: Le
dichiarazioni di successione dell'Ufficio del Registro ,, Rassegna degli Archivi di Stato,
XLIII, 1983, n. l, pp. 83-1 18.
AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN 195
one lump sum . The economie value of a military career was certainly not
lost on Count Ernesto Balbo Bertone di Sambuy. Although he would die
a millionaire in 1909, he insisted as early as the 1880s that his four sons had
a duty « di servire il proprio paese, e per la necessità di lavorare se vogliono
essere in grado di sostenere poi le loro famiglie ... ». Significantly, ali four
wound up in the armed forces, three as Cavalry officers and one in the
navy 39.
Varying combinations of cultura! prestige, social tradition, and economie
need helped to attract aristocratic young men to the military profession
regardless of where they were in the family hierarchy or line of inheritance.
While the majority of noble military officers whose families resided in Turin
in 1913 were younger sons, nearly half (48%) were first sons, who often
stood to inherit the lion's share of their fathers estates 40. Nor did the
strong presence of the first born mark any dramatic break with the past.
On the contrary, study of the career choices of men from some fifty titled
families in the half century before unification reveals a virtually identica!
percentage of first sons in the military 41. Of course, military service did
not necessarily have the same meaning for ali. For primary heirs from
wealthy old families like Marchese Maurizio Luserna di Rora, Marchese
Emanuele San Martino di San Germano or Count Emanuele Cacherano di
Bricherasio, the Cavalry seemed to offer a congenial puirsuit until they married
or stepped into their fathers' shoes; others like Marchese Carlo Compans
di Brichanteau used the military as a stepping stone to a career in
politics. These men may have fit the aristocratic stereotype of the dilettante
officer, but they were not necessarily typical. In fact, many heirs retained
their commissions long after inheritance. The ranks of first sons in the armed
forces in 1913 include d a substantial group of full career officers: 15
generals, 3 admirals, 9 colonnels, and 10 majors 42 . Moreover, 40% of a
sample of aristocratic officers, whose names reappeared on the active rolls
of the Cavalry or Artillery in the Annuario Militare over a period of two
to four decades between 1875 and 1914, were first sons 43. Such a
longterm professional involvement o n the part of the first born attested no t
only to the modest means of the Piedmontese nobility, but also to their
39 Ufficio del Registro di Torino, Successioni, B. 788, F. 17, testamento del Conte
Ernesto Balbo Bertone di Sambuy, Feb. 11, 1889. O n the military careers of his sons,
see A. MANNO, Il patriziato subalpino, Vol. II.
4o Guida di Torino 1913, pp. 638-674.
41 See note 18.
42 Guida di Torino 1913, pp. 638-674.
43 See note 8.