Pietro Pedranzini

Pietro Pedranzini (9 October 1826 – 3 September 1903) was an Italian Lieutenant of the First Italian War of Independence and the Third Italian War of Independence. He was one of the main commanders behind the Operations in Valtellina and received a Gold Medal of Military Valour for his service.

Childhood Pietro was born on 9 October 1826 in Bormio, a town in the Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. His parents were peasants, and Pietro had five older sisters and two younger brothers. When he was 11, his father died, but Pietro was able to attend elementary school. In 1842, he enrolled in the re-opened gymnasium at Bormio, but dropped out during his third year to resume work in the field.

First Italian War of Independence In 1847, he managed to evade the draft by the Austrian army due to heart disease. At the time, the Austrian Empire controlled the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia, which stretched from Milan to Venice and north into the Alps. There were a number of rebellions against Austrian rule in 1848, beginning with the Sicilian revolution of 1848 in January. The people of Milan rose up in March, and the Provisional Government of Milan carried out a draft.

Pedranzini was enlisted with the rank of corporal and assigned to the first bersaglieri company of the battalion of Valtellina conscripts. On 20 March 1848, Pietro and a squad of about twenty men went to the Stelvio Pass to guard the border with Switzerland. Pedranzini also participated in supplying Austrian weapons to the Italian forces. He was present for the proclamation of the Republic of Stelvio-Tonale on 12 August 1848. Later in August, Pedranzini and the men of his team—almost all soldiers from the Bormio district—had to abandon the garrison as the Austrians threatened their position. They retreated through the Cristallo Glacier (descending to Bormio via the Cristallo Pass).

The revolutions all ultimately failed; the Austrian Empire put down the various rebellions and regained control of their territories by August 1849.

Second Italian War of Independence Pedranzini married in 1856 and by 1859, due to having two children, he couldn't volunteer for the Second Italian War of Independence. On leaving, Guicciardi ordered a retreat to prevent a clash with Austrian soldiers.

Around the same time however, Bormio was subjected to raids, abuse and slavery by the Austrian troops who had their headquarters at the Stelvio Pass. On 11 July 1866 Pedranzini, alone, climbed the Cima Reit to a passage that would later become known as the "Pedranzini Pass". The passage descended from the scree of Glandadura towards the Stelvio Pass at the height of the Cantoniera. Pedranzini then blew a horn, fired a muzzle-loaded rifle, and rolled several boulders to create a commotion; his actions frightened the 65 Austrians below, who took refuge and locked themselves up in the entrance hall of the Cantoniera.

Pedranzini forced the Austrians to surrender, and succeeded in bringing them back to Bormio as prisoners. After this, Bormio was no longer harassed by the Austrians. For these events, on 19 April 1867, Pedranzini was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour "with an annual increase of two hundred lire."

Medal Citation