MenuGeneral Maurizio Ignazio Fresia
Born: August 1, 1746
Place of Birth: Saluzzo, Italy
Died: November 3, 1826
Place of Death: Paris, France
Pronunciation:
Born in Italy, Maurizio Ignazio Fresia, known to the French as Maurice Ignace Fresia, was admitted to the military school of Turin at age eleven in October of 1757. In 1766 he joined a regiment of dragoons in the service of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Ten years later in 1776 Fresia was promoted to captain and then eleven years after that in 1787 he was promoted to major. In 1790 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Chablais Dragoons and then in 1793 he was promoted to colonel of the regiment. Fresia served against France during the early French Revolutionary Wars and he was promoted to brigadier in 1796.
In December of 1798 General Joubert had Fresia assimilated into the French army as a général de brigade and Fresia took command of the Piedmontese cavalry serving France. Fresia served with the Army of Italy and then became commander of a brigade of dragoons in Hatry's division. In March of 1799 he served under the walls of Verona and then in April he fought at the battle of Magnano. Fresia next took command of all the Piedmontese troops in the service of France but then towards the end of April he was taken prisoner as part of Sérurier's troops captured at the combat of Verderio on the Adda. The next month he was released as part of a prisoner exchange.
In 1802 Fresia was employed in the 19th military division as commander of the department of Haute-Loire. The following year he organized a Piedmontese legion at Montpellier and then in 1804 he was employed in the 18th military division and named a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor.
As the campaigns of 1805 got underway, Fresia took command of the 1st Brigade of Mermet's dragoon division in the Army of Italy in September and then in October he joined Pully's division. In 1806 he commanded a brigade of cuirassiers during the campaigns in Prussia and Poland. Promoted to général de division on June 3rd, 1807, Fresia then took command of the cavalry division of Marshal Mortier's VIII Corps and he led them into action at the battle of Friedland less than two weeks later.
Fresia was authorized to return to Paris to wait for his next assignment which came in December when he was given command of a cavalry division in Dupont's II Corps of Observation of the Gironde. Serving in Spain, he was named a Baron of the Empire in June of 1808 and on the same day he served at the combat of the bridge of Alcolea. In July Fresia was taken prisoner as part of the French surrender at Bailen and afterwards he was transported back to Toulon in September. Bailen did not end his career like it did for some other generals, for in October he was named commander of the 18th military division at Dijon.
In April of 1809 Fresia was sent on a mission to Tuscany. After the War of the Fifth Coalition was concluded, he organized a cavalry reserve at Verona and then took command of the 1st Division of Dragoons in the Army of Italy, replacing Grouchy. At the end of the year Fresia was named commander of the 4th military division at Bologna in the Kingdom of Italy. In 1812 the governor of Venice Villaret de Joyeuse died and Fresia was named provisional governor.
Fresia joined Bertrand's IV Corps in the Grande Armée in Saxony in February of 1813 and then on May 18th he took command of the cavalry depots of Dresden. He was only there for two months before being named commander of the Illyrian Provinces. Facing a difficult situation, Fresia evacuated Trieste in September and then in December he began organizing a reserve division at Genoa. In February of 1814 he was charged with defending Genoa which he held until surrendering the city to Coalition forces in April.
Fresia retired from the army that December but after Napoleon resumed power in 1815 for the Hundred Days Fresia was put at the disposal of the Minister of War to serve as an inspector general of cavalry. After the second Bourbon Restoration, Fresia retired again in August and he became a naturalized French citizen in December.
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Updated November 2026
© Nathan D. Jensen