Ferdinando Rodriguez (b. 23 January 1773, Longone)
Of noble ancestry, son of a brigadier commander of the Reale Borbone regiment. A cadet in this regiment from the age of 2, he entered the military Academy of Naples in 1780, leaving it in 1792 as an ensign of the artillery and the engineering corps. He took part in the Toulon campaign in 1793, then the following year he was examined by Pommereul, ranking 2nd in the 1792 promotions list. The same year he was arrested for his connections with the French, including admiral Latouche-Tréville. After 18 months in a dungeon he was freed on parole, but was not re-enlisted in the army until the coming of the French to Naples. During the Republic he was chief of the accounting bureau of the War Ministry and was promoted to captain 1st class on 6 April 1799. Sentenced to deportation in France for 25 years, he joined the Italian military engineer brigade keeping his rank on 6 February 1801, which was confirmed after an examination on 17 March 1802. He was chief of staff of the engineering corps between 1802 and 1805, then director of studies and deputy commander of the Pavia military school for NCOs. On 10 January 1809 he was made deputy governor of the Royal House of Pages, being promoted to battalion chief on 30 November of the same year. In 1815 he went back to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, where in 1822 he was made a colonel in the staff. He published Nockhern de Schorn, François. 1825. Sistema generale di tutte le cognizioni militari e metodo chiaro e preciso per istudiare ordinatamente la scienza della guerra, transl. Ferdinando Rodriguez. Naples: da’ Torchi di Raffaele Miranda. (Cf. MSA WO 1811, 545, SHD, 2Ye non inventoried, ad nomen, Giordano, Bruno. 2008. Gli ufficiali della scuola militare di Modena (1798-1820): una ricerca prosopografica. Soveria Mannelli (CZ): Rubbettino: 339).