In 1859 he again enrolled as a volunteer in the Cacciatori delle Alpi corps, obtaining the rank of second lieutenant and a Silver Medal of Military Valor.

In the newly formed Italian Royal Army he obtained command of the 29th Infantry Regiment, which he led in the Battle of Custoza in 1866.

In January 1921 the Italian destroyer Pilade Bronzetti, which had served during World War I,[1] was renamed Giuseppe Dezza in his honor.

[2] Under that name, she was reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929[3] and served in the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy") during World War II.

[2] After Italy concluded an armistice with the Allies and switched sides in September 1943, Nazi Germany captured her and operated her in the Kriegsmarine as the torpedo boat TA35 until she struck a mine and sank in 1944.