Formation In 1701, the
Duke of Savoy Victor Amadeus II joined the
War of the Spanish Succession. The war ended in 1713 with the
Peace of Utrecht, which transferred the
Kingdom of Sicily and parts of the
Duchy of Milan to Savoy. In October 1713, Victor Amadeus II and his wife,
Anne Marie d'Orléans, travelled from
Nice to
Palermo, where, on 24 December 1713, they were crowned in the
cathedral of Palermo King and Queen of Sicily. In July 1718,
Spain landed troops on
Sicily and tried to recover the
Kingdom of Sicily from Savoy rule. On 2 August 1718,
Britain,
France,
Austria, and the
Dutch Republic formed an alliance to defeat Spain in the
War of the Quadruple Alliance. The war ended in 1720 with the
Treaty of The Hague, which restored the position prior to 1717, but with
Savoy and the Austria exchanging the
Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of Sicily. In 1742, King
Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia joined the
War of the Austrian Succession on the Austrian side. On 10 July 1744, King Charles Emmanuel III, while on a visit to
Sardinia, granted his consent to the request of the Sardinian nobleman Don Bernardino Antonio Genovese, Duke of San Pietro, to levy on his own expense an infantry regiment in Sardinia for service in the War of the Austrian Succession. On 13 July of the same year, the formation of the Regiment of Sardinia () commenced. The regiment consisted of six fusilier companies, one grenadiers company, and three staff companies. In total the regiment fielded 700 men and the regiment's founder, Don Bernardino Antonio Genovese, became the regiment's first Colonel. After its formation the regiment was shipped to
Piedmont, where the regiment fought in 1745 at
Acqui and in 1746 at
Ventimiglia. In 1748, the War of the Austrian Succession ended and the Regiment of Sardinia returned to the island, where was reduced to a single battalion.
French Revolutionary Wars On 21 September 1792, French forces invaded the
Duchy of Savoy and on 29 September the
County of Nice. Due to these unprovoked attacks King
Victor Amadeus III joined the
War of the First Coalition against the
French Republic. From 1792 to 1796 the regiment fought against the French
Army of Italy. In March 1796,
Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Italy and took command of the French forces, with which he defeated the
Royal Sardinian Army in the
Montenotte campaign within a month. During the Montenotte campaign the regiment fought in the
Battle of Mondovì. After the defeat in the Montenotte campaign King Victor Amadeus III was forced to sign the
Treaty of Paris, which ceded the
Duchy of Savoy and the
County of Nice to France and gave the
French Revolutionary Army free passage through the Kingdom of Sardinia towards the rest of Italy. After the end of the war, the Regiment of Sardinia returned to the island, which the French had already
tried and failed to occupy in 1792-93. On 29 November 1798, the
War of the Second Coalition began and French forces invaded Piedmont. Already on 6 December 1798, the French occupied
Turin and took King
Charles Emmanuel IV prisoner. On 8 December 1798, the King was forced to sign a document of abdication, which also ordered his former subjects to recognise French laws and his troops to obey the orders of the French Revolutionary Army. Afterwards, King Charles Emmanuel IV was released and went into exile on the island Sardinia, while his former territories became the French controlled
Piedmontese Republic. On 9 December 1798, the Sardinian troops were released from their oath of allegiance to the King and sworn to the Piedmontese Republic. The only exceptions were the Regiment of Sardinia and the
Corps of Light Dragoons of Sardinia, which were both based in Sardinia and thus out of reach of the French Army. In June 1915, the brigade fought in the
First Battle of the Isonzo, during which the brigade unsuccessfully attacked the Austro-Hungarian held Height 121 and Height 85 above Monfalcone. On 18 July 1915, the
Second Battle of the Isonzo began, for which the 1st Grenadiers Regiment's IV Battalion was attached to the 93rd Infantry Regiment (
Brigade "Messina"). On 21 July 1915, the IV Battalion attacked, together with the III Battalion of the 93rd Infantry Regiment, Height 70 on the slopes of the Karst plateau. The attack was renewed the next day with troops of the
17th Infantry Regiment (
Brigade "Acqui"). On 10 August 1915, the 1st Grenadiers Regiment's I Battalion attacked Height 121, while the 2nd Grenadiers Regiment's III Battalion attacked Height 85. While the latter attack failed already in its initial stages, the I Battalion managed to reach its objective and take it. However, the battalion was soon cut off and Austro-Hungarian reinforcements forced the battalion's surviving five officers and 152 grenadiers to surrender. On 23 August 1915, the brigade was pulled out of the front and sent to
Palmanova in the rear, where the 1st Grenadiers Regiment's I Battalion was brought back to full strength.
Interwar years On 17 November 1918, the Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" arrived in
Rijeka and,
together with French, British, and American troops, occupied the city. On 25 August 1919, the 2nd Grenadiers Regiment left the city, followed by the 1st Grenadiers Regiment two day later on 27 August. However the Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" did not return to its bases in Rome, but took up garrisons between the cities of
Gradisca d'Isonzo and
Trieste. The 2nd Grenadiers Regiment's I Battalion was sent to the town of
Ronchi, at the foot of the Karst plateau. On 31 August 1919, seven of the battalion's junior officers swore the "Oath of Ronchi" to fight for the annexation of Rijeka by Italy. The next day Second Lieutenant Claudio Grandjacquet travelled to
Venice, where he proposed the grenadiers' plan to occupy Rijeka to the poet and war hero
Gabriele D'Annunzio, who enthusiastically accepted to lead, what he dubbed the
"Impresa di Fiume" ("Fiume endeavor"). At 18h in the evening of 11 September 1919, D'Annunzio arrived in Ronchi and sent four officers to
Palmanova, where they forced the commander of the army's auto park to hand over five Lancia 1ZM
armored cars and 35 trucks. After the trucks arrived in Ronchi 186 grenadiers of the I Battalion desert their unit and moved with D'Annunzio to Rijeka, where they arrived the next morning. Troops sent to stop D'Annunzio and the grenadiers, joined D'Annunzio, who soon commanded a force of 2,500 men, with whom he established the
Italian Regency of Carnaro in Rijeka. After these events, the Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" was quickly transferred to
Innsbruck in
Austria as occupation force. In July 1920, the grenadiers left Innsbruck and, after a short time in
South Tyrol returned to their bases in Rome in November 1920. On 8 February 1934, the 21st Territorial Division of Rome was renamed
Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna". In 1935-36 the regiment contributed 14 officers and 346 enlisted for units, which were deployed to
East Africa for the
Second Italo-Ethiopian War. On 6 April 1939, a provisional regiment with elements drawn from all three grenadiers regiments was formed for the
Italian invasion of Albania. In the night from 7 to 8 April 1939, a battalion of the provisional regiment was airlifted to
Tirana, while the rest of the regiment followed by sea a few days later. In 1939, the Royal Italian Army reorganized its divisions as
binary divisions and consequently, the 3rd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" left the Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna" and became an autonomous unit. On 25 July 1939, the 3rd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" moved from Viterbo to Tirana, where it replaced the provisional regiment, which was repatriated and disbanded in Rome on 28 July 1939. During the same year the XXI Infantry Brigade was disbanded and the brigade's two regiments came under direct command of the Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna", which was renamed
21st Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna".
Cold War On 1 July 1946, the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" was reformed in Rome. On 1 April 1948, the regiment was assigned to the
Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna". During the
1975 army reform the Italian Army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were granted for the first time their own flags. On 31 August 1975, the I Battalion of the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" was renamed 1st Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta", while the regiment's II Battalion was renamed 2nd Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio". The 1st Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta" was named for the
Battle of Assietta, during which the Guard Regiment's I Battalion had distinguished itself. The 2nd Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio" was named for
Monte Cengio, where the Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" had stopped the Austro-Hungarian
Asiago Offensive. One year later, on 30 September 1976, the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" and the regiment's III and IV battalions were disbanded. The next day, on 1 October 1976, the 1st Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta" and 2nd Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio" became autonomous units and were renamed
1st Mechanized Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta", respectively 2nd Mechanized Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio". The two battalions were assigned to the Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna". Both battalions consisted of a command, a command and services company, three mechanized companies with
M113 armored personnel carriers, and a heavy mortar company with
M106 mortar carriers with 120 mm Mod. 63 mortars. At the time each of the two battalions fielded 896 men (45 officers, 100 non-commissioned officers, and 751 grenadiers). On 1 November 1976, the Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna" was reorganized as
Mechanized Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna" and the two mechanized grenadier battalions were assigned to the brigade. The two battalions were joined by the
3rd Grenadiers Battalion "Guardie", which had been reformed on 1 January 1976 in
Orvieto. On 12 November 1976, the
President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone assigned with decree 846 the
flag and traditions of the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" to the 1st Mechanized Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta" and the flag and traditions of the 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" to the 2nd Mechanized Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio". For its conduct and work after the
1980 Irpinia earthquake the battalion was awarded a Bronze Medal of Army Valor, which was affixed to the battalion's flag and added to its coat of arms.
Recent times on 1 September 2022 On 18 October 1992, the 2nd Mechanized Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio" lost its autonomy and the next day, on 19 October 1992, the battalion entered the reformed 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" as Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio". On the same day, the flag and traditions of the 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" were transferred from the Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio" to the reformed regiment. From 9 October 1993 to 30 January 1994, one of the regiment's companies was deployed to
Somalia with the
United Nations Operation in Somalia II. On 15 May 1996, the
130th Infantry Regiment "Perugia" in
Spoleto was transferred from the
Mechanized Brigade "Acqui" to the Mechanized Brigade "Granatieri di Sardegna". On 30 June of the same year, the 130th Infantry Regiment "Perugia" was disbanded and its personnel distributed to other units. The next day, the 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" moved from Rome to Spoleto, where it took over the base and materiel of the disbanded regiment. On 29 October 2002, the 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" was disbanded and the regiment's grenadier companies were transferred to the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna", which formed a detachment in Spoleto with the companies. Afterwards, the flag of the 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" was transferred to the
Shrine of the Flags in the
Vittoriano in Rome for safekeeping. On 21 November 2017, the detachment in
Spoleto was used to reform the 2nd Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio", which remained assigned to the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna". On the same day, the Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta" was renamed 1st Grenadiers Battalion "Assietta". On 31 August 2022, the 2nd Grenadiers Battalion "Cengio" left the 1st Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna" and the next day, on 1 September 2022, the battalion entered the reformed 2nd Regiment "Granatieri di Sardegna". == Organization ==