The Sardinian Prisoner of War from the Charge of the Light Brigade: The Misadventures of Lieutenant Giuseppe Landriani During the Crimean War

This article aims to present the participation in the Crimean War of the Sardinian Lieutenant Giuseppe Landriani, whose story has been neglected in the scientific literature until now. The career of this officer is notable for the fact that he is one of the two Sardinians who participated in the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854, during which he was captured. Landriani is one of the few Sardinian prisoners of war in Russia during the Crimean War, and the study of his life offers a rare perspective on a Sardinian in Russian captivity. Previously unexplored aspects of the lieutenant’s case have been examined, including his treatment by the renowned Russian surgeon Nikolay Pirogov and the negotiations for his release, which involved several commanding generals in Crimea, two ministers of war, and even the Russian Emperor Alexander II himself. In order to reconstruct Landriani’s story, information about him scattered across a number of Italian, Russian and British studies and sources, including archival materials, has been discovered and analyzed. In connection with the lieutenant’s case, the article also provides some data on the other Sardinians captured in Russia. The study concludes that Landriani’s unique story is representative of the humane treatment of prisoners of war common in the Crimean War.