The son of an officer who, in 1821, had joined Santorre di Santarosa in the constitutional motions[1] in Piedmont, Giuseppe Galliano entered the Military College in Asti on 24 October 1854.

In 1884 he passed to the 82nd "Turin" Infantry Regiment; on 6 November 1887, he left for Eritrea under the command of General Alessandro Asinari di San Marzano, to avenge the Dogali massacre.

In the battle of Agordat (1893) Captain Giuseppe Galliano commanded a Battalion of Colonial Eritreans, as well as a battery of mountain artillery served from Sudanese soldiers.

When King Umberto I assigned him the Gold Medal of Military Valor, Captain Galliano wrote to his brother: “A single thing disturbs my joy for such honour: it is too different from the one given to my officers, who have earned it for me, to whom the Ministry was not as generous as to me”.

The action earned him a Silver Medal of Military Valor, and the Knight Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus by Monarch's motu proprio.

Menelik II collected huge supplies of provisions, cattle, arms and ammunition and gathered a big army in order to march against the Italian column.

Arimondi, who had advanced as far as Aderà, (20 km from Amba Alagi), could only collect the few survivors and go back to Adigrat, leaving Giuseppe Galliano with 1.300 men in the fort of Enda Yesus near Mek'ele.

The peace negotiations reached the peak on 17 January 1896, when Menelik II offered to stop hostilities and let the Italians in Mek'ele go free, asking in compensation that the Treaty of Wuchale be cancelled.

On the night of 29 February, the army moved in three columns: Colonel Galliano took part in the centre one, 2,500 soldiers guided by General Giuseppe Arimondi.

“motu proprio of Monarch” - 1896 “For the combats of Coatit” - 1893 “Decisive victory over the Dervishes” - Agordat (Eritrean), December 1893 “For the heroic defence of the fort of Enda Jesus (Mek'ele)” - 1896 “Engaged with his battalion on the Rajo Mount, in the more critical moment of the fight, he fought with valour.