Giuseppe Salvatore Pianell
1818–1892 (age 74)
Biography
Giuseppe Salvatore Pianell (Palermo, November 9, 1818 - Verona, April 5, 1892) was an Italian general and politician. Count since 1856.
He was appointed Minister of War of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in July 1860, in the days of the Expedition of the Thousand. In favor of an alliance with Piedmont and the application of the constitution promulgated by Francis II, he was for this reason opposed by much of the Bourbon court. He resigned after a few weeks in the ministry and, following the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, was granted entry into the Italian Army with the rank of general.
He distinguished himself at the Battle of Custoza (1866) as commander of the only Italian division that did not retreat in the face of the Austrian counteroffensive. In 1869 he became commander of the Royal Army forces in northern Italy. He repeatedly refused the post of Minister of War of the Kingdom of Italy and was a deputy and senator for life in the Italian Parliament. He was accused by the Bourbons of favoring the demise of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and by some Unionists of the opposite. Later he became one of the symbols of national unity.