Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-11
THE KINGS BODY GUARD.
The Royal Squadron of the Italian
Army and the Bersaglieri.

The Royal Squadron Of the Italian
Army and the BersaElieri.
From Golfers Weekly.
The bodyguard of the King of Italy,
though comparatively small in number. is
in many respects one Of the finest of its
kind in Europe. 1t is composed Of a squad
ron selected from the Royal Carabineers.
with a special uniform, and was instituted
by the late King Victor Emanuel on the
occasion of the marriage of his son, the
present King Humbert. This squadron fur
nishes the palace guard attends the king
at parades and public ceremonies and forms
his personal escort in war On state occa-
sfons the officers and men Of the squadron
wear FURNISHED steel breastplates, from
which the regiment from which it is drawn
derives its designation of Cuirassiers.
The royal squadron is composed of one
captain, four 'lieutenants and 100 guards,
chosen for their stature and physique, none
being less than six feet in height. which is
the standard. The uniform is rich and at
tracttve. somewhat resembling that of the
Horse Guards of the British army, but
more snowy. At state parades the full dress
Is white breeches of dressed goatskin, high,
black, patent leather boots, black coat with
red stripes, white gauntlets, steel breast
plate with the royal arms in gold, and
helmet with back horse hair plume. The
arms are carabine and saber. and the
horses of the squadron are remarkable for
their great size.
The present commander of the Cuirassiers
of the Guard Is Captain Ulderico d'Ales-
sandro. a distinguished cavalarist and for
merry lieutenant of the squadron. Though
he was promoted to the command only a
short time ago, he quickly succeeded in i'm
buing his men with his own energy Intelli-
gent and an expert athlete, he has develop
ed equestrian and gymnastic sports in his
squadron with splendid results. 1t is the
more remarkable to see these exercises
carried out by men almost giants in size
with the agility and dexterity of lighter
weights. Captain dAlessandro himself is
six feet three inches in height and Is an
example to his squadronin all feats of hardi-
hood and dexterity, whether on foot or
mounted, and was the first to demonstrate
the feasibility Of exploits that were not
only dangerous in appearance, but seemed
almost impossible to be achieved.
An eyewitness of the performances says
1t is hardly possible for those who have
not seen the squadron at work to form any
conception of the agility which these giants
have acquired through continual practice
and training.
Nearly equal in their gymnasttc training
and vastly more numerous are the sharp
shooter regiments of the Italian army, 9TH
erwise known as the Bersagleri. Their pic
turesQue costume. which consists of an
easy-ftting short black tunic and wide,
loose knickerbockers of the same color, with
crimson trimmings. CATERS and round-top
ped felt hat with leather brim. and a tuft
Of black plumes hanging to the right, to-
Setner Win lnelr RAPID, swinging pace or
thirtytwo inches on the march, gives them
a dashing. daredevil appearance. which
their conduct on many battlef1elds has
proved to be real. They are undoubtedly
among the very best troops in the Italian
army. The idea Of their formation was first
put forward by the Marquis Alessandro
Ferrero della Marmora, who, in 1885, pro-
posed to Charles Albert King of Piedmont,
the organization of a company of sharp
shooters with which he intended to demon
strate the future tactics in war.
The king gave his assent to the proposal.
and the original two companies with which
the corps of sharpshooters started have
now expanded into twelve regiments one
for each army corps, with three battalions
each. The rank and file are carefully Sc
lected men of medium height, broad-chest-
ed. agile. capable Of undergoing great hard
ships. executing long-distance rapid march
es hill climbing and other work incidental
to mountain warfare. They have no bands,
but only bugle corps; and their arms are
a repeating rifle with short sword bayonet.