Tribute to Those Who Defy Death

Abstract May 31, 2024 marks the 165th anniversary of the historic decision by ruler Alexandru Ioan Cuza to establish the first engineer unit in the Romanian Army. This decision was materialized by the annotation „it is agreed”, made by Alexandru Ioan Cuza, on the report of the Council of Ministers no. 1902, which was the basis for the establishment in Moldova of the first engineer battalion of the Romanian Army. This engineering battalion was made up of permanent workers, it was financed by public funds, and was commanded by engineer Panait Donici - the Moldovan Minister of Public Works, a prominent personality of the intellectual elite of the time, who, after his appointment to the military position, was also awarded the rank of captain. The fact that the maintenance of the battalion was carried out with public funds was a support of the civil society to the Romanian Army, which during the reign of Alexandru Ioan Cuza had entered a complex process of restructuring and modernization. The task of the battalion was not only to carry out missions aimed at making land communication routes to ensure economic and social links and trade within the country, but also the provision of supplies for the military combat structures. In this article, I would like to talk about this 165-year historical evolution of the Romanian Army’s engineering structures and the factors that determined this evolution.