DE COURTEN, RAFFAELE GIUSEPPE. Pontifical general, b. 11 Jan. 1809 at Sierre in the Valais, d. at Florence in 1904. On 6 May 1832, with the rank of lieutenant, he entered the service of the Holy See in the foreign regiments established by Gregory XVI following the political disturbances of the previous year.
As major adjutant of the 2nd Swiss Regiment, under the orders of Generals Latour and Durando, he distinguished himself particularly in the defence of Monte Berico, earning the brevet of captain. Promoted brigadier general on 7 Aug. 1866, he actively cooperated in the reorganization of the pontifical army.
After returning from imprisonment in the Kingdom of Sardinia and a brief stay in Switzerland, he took command of the 1st subdivision, further distinguishing himself in the arduous and successful campaign to suppress the brigandage that had long plagued southern Lazio (1846–67), in the setbacks inflicted upon the Garibaldians in the vicinity of Viterbo and Frosinone in the autumn of 1867, and most notably by personally leading his soldiers in the assault at the Battle of Mentana on 3 Nov. With no less vigour and firmness, on 20 Sept. 1870 he presided over the defence committee of Rome, and the following day shared the captivity of the troops.
His attachment to his adopted homeland led him to spend his final years in Florence, though he vigorously protested in a strongly worded letter of 28 June 1889, published by the Roman newspapers *La Fedeltà* and *La Voce della Verità*, against grave assertions and inaccuracies made by General R. Cadorna regarding the men and affairs of the dissolved pontifical army.