General Pascal-Antoine Fiorella
Born: February 7, 1752
Died: March 3, 1818
Place of Birth: Ajaccio, Corse
Cause of Death: Natural causes
| Battle | Unit | Rank |
| Castiglione | Général de brigade | Division Sérurier (commanding) |
Pascal-Antoine Fiorella was a cousin of Napoleon Bonaparte who served in Italy for much of his career. After serving in various Corsican units before the Revolution, Fiorella became a lieutenant colonel of the 4th Batallion of Volunteers of Isère in November of 1791. Over the next few years he served in the Army of the Alps, mostly at the pass of Madeleine.
In 1794 Fiorella was promoted to chef de brigade and joined the Army of Italy, where he would serve for the next five years. That April he took part under Masséna's expedition to Saorgio and was wounded in the fighting at the Ardente pass. In September he was promoted to general de brigade, took command of the reserve under Masséna, and fought at Cairo. The next year he took command of a brigade in Sérurier's division.
In early April of 1796, Fiorella joined Berthier's staff and then fought at Mondovi before returning to command a brigade in Sérurier's division. Two months later he was serving under Vaubois and took part in the expedition to Livorno before once again returning to Sérurier's division. Sérurier fell ill before the Battle of Castiglione and so Fiorella took command of the division and led them admirably throughout the battle. Less than a week later Fiorella also fell ill, and Sahuguet replaced him while he recovered.
A month later, General Fiorella was back in action serving in Vaubois' division. As the French army attempted to win the Battle of Arcola, Vaubois' division was engaged elsewhere and Fiorella was captured during the fierce fighting. Within a few months he was released on a prisoner exchange and by March of 1797 he was serving in Bernadotte's division. Over most of the summer of that year he commanded Sérurier's division while Sérurier was in Paris before he returned to Bernadotte's division upon Sérurier's return.
November of 1797 saw Fiorella named a general de division in the service of the Cisalpine Republic, where he commanded all the French and Italian troops in Lombardy. In 1799 he took command of Turin in May, but within six weeks was forced to surrender to the Austrian siege and was taken prisoner and moved to Germany.
In March of 1801 Fiorella rejoined the French army as a general de brigade, and fulfilled administrative posts until September of 1802 when he traveled to the Italian Republic to become Commander of the Interior and the infantry. In April of 1804 he was promoted to lieutenant-general in the Italian Republic, and at the end of year was made a Commander of the Legion of Honor. After war broke out in 1805, General Fiorella took command of the 2nd Division of the corps under Eugene de Beauharnais that was blockading Venice.
Continuing to serve in Italy, sometime during his career Fiorella was rewarded by being made a Commander of the Iron Crown. In 1810 he became a senator of Italy, and during the Hundred Days he commanded the arrondisements of Ajaccio and Sartène in Corsica.
Sources: Boycott-Brown (Road to Rivoli), Six (Dictionnaire Biographique)
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