Tommaso De Cristoforis

Lieutenant-Colonel Tommaso De Cristoforis (6 June 1841 – 26 January 1887) was an Italian military officer who served in the Sardinian and Italian armies. He participated in the Expedition of the Thousand and Third Italian War of Independence before being sent to East Africa to fight in the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889. De Cristoforis was killed in action at the Battle of Dogali leading an Italian force against Ethiopian troops.

Biography

He was born in Casale Monferrato on 6 June 1841, son of the lawyer Paolo De Cristoforis who was from a noble Lombard family, and of Antonia Manara, belonging to a family of illustrious Piedmontese jurists. After completing his studies at the high school of his hometown he entered the Royal Military Academy of Turin, from where he left in June 1859, assigned with the rank of second lieutenant to the 12th Infantry Regiment of the "Casale" Brigade. On October 26 of the following year he participated in a battle against the Bourbons at San Giuliano earning the Silver Medal of Military Valor. He participated in the siege of Gaeta as aide-de-camp to General Efisio Cugia. In 1866 he participated in the Third Italian War of Independence as the official Staff General Enrico Cialdini, and subsequently transferred to the Division of Palermo, the stifling of revolt in the city.

Battle of Dogali

The Italo-Abyssinian relations had gradually become increasingly tense starting from 12 April 1886, when there was the massacre of the exploratory mission led by Count Gian Pietro Porro — Royal Italian Decree February 24, 1887

Silver Medal of Valor

Order of the Crown of Italy Commemorative Medal of the Unity of Italy