The Regiment "Lancieri di Firenze" (9th) ( - "Lancers of Florence") is an inactive cavalry unit of the Tuscan Army, French Imperial Army, Royal Sardinian Army, and Italian Army. In 1753, Grand Duke Francis ordered to commence the formation of a dragoons regiment, which would become the only regular cavalry regiment of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1799, the regiment fought against French forces in the War of the Second Coalition. One year later the regiment was disbanded, but in 1803 it was reformed. In 1808, the regiment was incorporated into the French Imperial Army. The regiment then fought in Napoleon's invasion of Spain and invasion of Russia, during which the regiment reached Madrid respectively Moscow.
In 1848, the regiment fought in the first campaign of the First Italian War of Independence. In 1859, during the Second Italian War of Independence, Grand Duke Leopold II fled Tuscany, which allied with the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrian Empire. On 18 March 1860, the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed Tuscany and one week later, on 25 March 1860, the regiment was incorporated into the Royal Sardinian Army. The Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Firenze" was the only regiment of a pre-unification Italian state allowed to retain its regimental honors and traditions upon entering the Royal Sardinian Army.
In 1866, the regiment fought in the Third Italian War of Independence and in 1911-12 in the Italo-Turkish War. During World War I the regiment fought on the Italian front. In 1935, the regiment was assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division, with which it participated in 1941 in the invasion of Yugoslavia. In 1942-43, the regiment served on anti-partisan duty in Albania. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943, the regiment's officers hid the regiment's standard and then dissolved the regiment.
In 1951, during the Cold War, the Italian Army formed an armored squadron, which was given the name and traditions of the regiment. The squadron was assigned to the Armored Division "Pozzuolo del Friuli" as the division's reconnaissance unit. In 1956, the squadron was expanded to squadrons group, but already on 31 December 1957 the unit was disbanded. In 1975, the regiment's name, standard, and traditions were assigned to the 9th Tank Squadrons Group "Lancieri di Firenze", which was assigned to the Armored Brigade "Vittorio Veneto". In 1992, the squadrons group lost its autonomy and entered the reformed Regiment "Lancieri di Firenze" (9th). In 1995, the regiment was disbanded and regiment's standard transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome for safekeeping.
The regiment's anniversary falls on 30 October 1918, the day the regiment occupied the city of Vittorio during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, for which the regiment was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valor. As the regiment is a lancer unit, its enlisted personnel is addressed as "Lancer" ().
History Formation In 1733, the War of the Polish Succession pitted the House of Habsburg and against the House of Bourbon. In 1734-35, Charles of Parma led Bourbon forces in the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily. In October 1735, a preliminary peace was concluded: Charles of Parma ceded the Duchy of Parma to the Habsburgs and renounced his right to inherit the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but he was compensated by being confirmed as king of Naples and Sicily. Stanisław Leszczyński, the father in law of the Fenech King, abdicated the Polish throne and was compensated with the duchies of Lorraine and of Bar in France. In turn Francis, Duke of Lorraine renounced his title as Duke of Lorraine and was compensated with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. On 12 February 1736, Francis married Archduchess Maria Theresa, the heiress of the Habsburg monarchy.Hargreaves-Mawdsley, W. N., Eighteenth-Century Spain 1700–1788: A Political, Diplomatic and Institutional History. Palgrave Macmillan UK. London, 1979.
On 5 January 1737, instruments of cession were signed at Pontremoli between Spain and the Empire, with Spain ceding Parma and Tuscany to the Holy Roman Empire and the Empire recognizing Charles of Parma as King of Naples and Sicily. On 10 January 1737, Spanish troops began their withdrawal from Tuscany, and were replaced by 6,000 Austrians.Hale, Florence and the Medici, Orion books, p 192. London, 1977, . On 24 January 1737 Francis received Tuscany from his father-in-law.Maria Theresia und ihre Zeit. Exhibition from 13 May till October 1980 in Vienna, Schloss Schönbrunn, p. 28, see also pp. 37, 38, 41, 47, 52, 53 for the other details described here. On 9 July 1737, Grand Duke Gian Gastone de' Medici died and Francis assumed the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany.
On 13 September 1745, Francis was elected Holy Roman Emperor. In summer of 1753, Emperor Francis I ordered the Tuscan government to reform the Duchy's military and form a regular cavalry regiment. On 13 September 1753, the Tuscan government ordered to begin with the formation of a regiment of dragoons. In October of the same year the Tuscan government informed Francis I that due to a lack of funds the Corps of Dragoons () consisted only of a staff of 32 men. In 1758, the Tuscan government finally provided the funds to form the regiment, which consisted of a staff, eight companies of dragoons, and one company of grenadiers-dragoons. The staff, which consisted of 10 men, and five dragoon companies were based in Pisa, while the other three dragoon companies were based in Livorno. The grenadiers-dragoons company was based in Poggio a Caiano near Florence, where the company acted as guard company. Each of the companies was supposed to field 56 men, with the regiment's strength intended to be 514 men. However one year later due to the fiscal situation of the Tuscan government, the regiment consisted of only 318 men.
In 1763, the regiment was reduced to 296 men and consisted then of a staff, five dragoon companies and one grenadiers-dragoons company. In 1764, the regiment was again reduced and then consisted of 234 men in dragoon three companies, which were all based in Pisa. On 18 August 1765, Emperor Francis I died and his son Leopold became the new Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1767, Grand Duke Leopold, which unlike his father ruled the Tuscany from Florence, reduced the Tuscan military and the Corps of Dragoons was reduced to of 101 men and consisted then of a single squadron of two companies. In 1774, the unit was renamed His Royal Highness' Chevau-légers Squadron (). In 1776, the squadron was reduced to 71 men and renamed Chevau-légers Company.
Napoleonic Wars On 20 February 1790, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II died and Grand Duke Leopold succeeded him. In spring of the same year, with the ideas of the French Revolution spreading across Europe, Leopold ordered to expand the Chevau-légers Company to a dragoons regiment of 200 mounted and 100 dismounted dragoons. On 22 July 1790, Leopold ceded the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany to this son Ferdinand, who ascended as Ferdinand III. Over summer the new Dragoons Regiment was formed, with 20 mounted and 30 dismounted dragoons based in Florence, 50 mounted and 20 dismounted dragoons based in Livorno, and the remaining 130 mounted and 50 dismounted dragoons based in Pisa. The regiment consisted of a staff and two companies, each of which fielded 98 mounted and 48 dismounted dragoons, while the regiment's staff consisted of 8 men.
By 1798, the regiment was fully mounted and consisted of 288 dragoons in five companies. In 1799, the regiment fought in the War of the Second Coalition against French troops and the troops of the French-allied Cisalpine Republic. On 14 June 1800, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Marengo and French forces occupied Tuscany and disbanded the Tuscan military. Grand Duke Ferdinand III fled to Vienna and on 21 March 1801 was forced by the Treaty of Aranjuez to exchange Tuscany for the Electorate of Salzburg and Berchtesgaden Provostry. On week later, on 28 March 1801, the French Republic and the Kingdom of Naples signed the Treaty of Florence, which transferred the Principality of Piombino and State of the Presidi in southern Tuscany to France. The French then combined the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Principality of Piombino and parts of Presidi in the Kingdom of Etruria, which was given to Louis I of Etruria as compensation for his father Ferdinand I, Duke of Parma being forced to cede his Duchy to the French.
On 27 May 1803, King Louis I died and was succeeded by his infant son, Charles Louis, under the regency of his mother, Queen María Luisa, who, on 21 July 1803, ordered to form a Royal Corps of Dragoons. The corps consisted of four companies in two squadrons. The four companies were based in Florence, Siena, Pistoia, and Livorno. On 21 July 1805, Queen María Luisa reduced the corps to the Tuscan Dragoons Squadron, which consisted of two companies.
On 10 December 1807, Emperor Napoleon forced Queen María Luisa to abdicate and the Kingdom of Etruria came under direct French control. On 7 January 1808, the new authorities ordered to expand the Tuscan Dragoons Squadron to a Tuscan Dragoons Regiment with two squadrons. On 29 May 1808, the formation of the regiment concluded, but already on the next day, 30 May 1808, the Kingdom of Etruria was annexed by the First French Empire and the regiment was integrated into the French Imperial Army.
In 1808, the regiment served in Napoleon's invasion of Spain. On 1 July 1809, the regiment was renamed 28e Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval. In 1811, the regiment fought in the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro. In 1812, the regiment left Spain and in participated the invasion of Russia, during which it fought in the battles of Smolensk, Borodino, Vyazma, Krasnoi, and Berezina. In 1813-14, the regiment participated in the German campaign, during which it fought in the Battle of the Göhrde and the Siege of Hamburg. On 11 April 1814, Napoleon abdicated the throne and shortly thereafter the 28e Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval was disbanded.
Restoration In 1814, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was restored and Grand Duke Ferdinand III resumed his rule. The same year the corps was reformed as Royal Corps of Dragoons. On 21 January 1816, the corps was transferred to the light cavalry and renamed Corps of Mounted Hunters (), which consisted of four squadrons. On 18 June 1824 Ferdinand III died and was succeeded by his son Leopold II as Grand Duke. By 1836, the corps consisted of 300 troops.
Italian Wars of Independence First Italian War of Independence In 1848-49, the First Italian War of Independence between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Empire was fought in northern Italy. Under popular pressure Grand Duke Leopold II sided with Sardinia and on 21 March 1848 joined the war. Leopold II sent a Tuscan Army contingent, which included two squadrons of the Corps of Mounted Hunters, to Veneto for the war's first campaign. On 29 May 1848, the Tuscan forces fought in the Battle of Curtatone and Montanara and the next day, 30 May 1848, in the Battle of Goito. On 9 August 1848, Sardinia and Austria signed the Armistice of Salasco, which concluded the first campaign of the war. The same month, the Corps of Mounted Hunters was armed with lances and dressed in Sardinian uniforms. Over the next months the situation in Tuscany deteriorated and on 30 January 1849, Leopold II fled with his family from Florence to Siena. On 7 February 1849, Leopold II left Siena and travelled to Porto Santo Stefano, where he and his family boarded a ship of the British Royal Navy. On 9 February 1849, Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, Giuseppe Montanelli, and Giuseppe Mazzoni formed a triumvirate in Florence. The three triumvirs rewrote the Tuscan constitution and on 15 February proclaimed the Tuscan Republic.