Veronese Easters
Encyclopedia
The Veronese Easters were a rebellion during the Italian campaign
of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona
and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte
(the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. They are so-called due to association with the Sicilian Vespers
. Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter
: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.
insurgency movement which arose throughout the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1814 - other important episodes included the campaigns of the Armata della Santa Fede which, guided by cardinal Ruffo
, succeeded in reconquering the kingdom of Naples
, the actions of the Viva Maria
band in Tuscany
and Liguria
, and Andreas Hofer
's victories in the County of Tyrol
. The movement's followers were numerous, with sources talking of at least 280,000 insurgents and 70,000 dead.
These revolts were primarily against French domination Jacobin-inspired French political ideology, opposed as such ideology was to prevailing opinions fundamental to Italian society in that period.
Napoleon's objective, even as early as spring 1796, was the conquest of rich venetic
Lombardy
, and in effect French troops, initially welcomed on the assumption that their stay would be brief, had reached Brescia
and Verona by the end of the year : these cities were technically under Venetian domination, and thus the foundations were laid for the events of the following year. The French troops arrived in Verona on 1 June 1796, occupying the military strong-points and billeting troops in other buildings despite the Republic of Venice
already having declared its neutrality.
The relations between the population and the Venetian departments on one side, and the French troops on the other, was difficult from the start, for the French troops behaved more as occupiers than guests. Bergamo, in contrast, resisted the French invasion.
of Bergamo
and a patriot who had raised 10,000 men for the defence of the Bergamasca Nation, at the end of December had to accept general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
's request to billet French troops inside the city, since without soldiers they could not have resisted the French force and since (due to Venetian neutrality) the city could not consent to an attack. The French general, however, did not lower the flags of San Marco, given that this city too was officially under Venetian control.
The next phase of Napoleon's plan assumed that the region's democratisation would lead to the administration passing into the hands of the Jacobin Lombards, who would then create a republic (comprising the territories as far as Verona, or even Padova) allied to France. When secret information of this reached Ottolini, he immediately informed Venice's provveditore
. Francesco Battaia, hesitating to follow up his actions with force, replied that Ottolini should double-check if this information was true. Thanks to a spy, Ottolini quickly confirmed Napoleon's intentions, but still Battaia did nothing.
The work of democratising Bergamao was initiated by François Joseph Lefebvre
, the successor to Baraguay d'Hilliers, but there were too few Jacobin locals. Napoleon reminded the general that the democratisation should appear to be the will of the people - the general, therefore, whilst keeping Ottolini otherwise occupied, summoned representatives of the citizen-body to secede from Venice's rule. These representatives protested but were obliged to assent. Ottolini had in the mentime recalled some military companies from the provinces, and the French used this action as a pretext for occupying the city. Bergamo thus officially became the first city in the Veneto removed from Venice's rule, and Ottolini was forced to give up the city. In the meantime, Napoleon set off to march on Vienna
via the defiles of Carinthia
, ultimately ending up in Leoben
negotiating a treaty with Austria
.
. In this case, despite the town already being partially under French control, the democratisation would have to be conducted (or at least appear to be conducted) by the local Jacobins, given that at Bergamo French involvement in the process had been too obvious. On 16 March, a column of soldiers (partly French, partly local Jacobins) left for Brescia. Its podestà, Giovanni Alvise Mocenigo, wished to attack this hostile column but was stopped from doing so by Battaia, who was still worried about the eventual use of force.
Two days later 200 men entered Brescia and, with the aid of Brescian Jacobins, put down what little resistance was offered. Their first act after gaining the city was to hunt down Battaia, who had fled to Verona. Although lacking the support of the population, with French help the Jacobins succeeded in democratising the countryside and (on 28 March) the town of Crema
.
Action was immediately taken: Miniscalchi was put in command of the long defence-line at Garda
, and Bevilacqua of the line between Villafranca di Verona
and the border with Ferrara
, with Maffei positioned between these two lines.
Meanwhile conte Augusto Verità had returned to Verona. Always enjoying good relations with the French, he proposed to get an assurance of French neutrality before the Veronese forces clashed with the Jacobins. Writing to the commander of the French troops at Verona, general Antoine Balland, he stated:
The substance of the letter was a request for authorisation to defend Verona's boundaries against aggressors, which the French general was forced to consent to, since if he did not the only way they could officialise their arrival would be through Venice's authority over her territories. Bonaparte agreed with Balland's decision, and informed the Venetian senate that French troops would not intervene and that he was hurt by how much success they had had at Bergamo and Brescia. Balland's response to the letter aroused Verona's inhabitants to great enthusiasm for defending their own territory.
Initially the military leaders were instructed to defend Verona's borders with practically no men, although the cernide
was able to offer 6,000 men, and many volunteers arrived, especially from Valpolicella
.
On 23 March news reached Verona that 500 Jacobin soldiers headed for Peschiera del Garda
or Valeggio sul Mincio
had set out from Brescia - the officials and troops rushed to take up their positions. Miniscalchi went to Colà, a small village above the hills of Lazise
, Giusti to Povegliano Veronese
, Bevilacqua to Cerea
, and Maffei to Valeggio. From Valeggio Maffei could see that the enemy troops were still not in sight, and was thus had time to put his own troops in better order. 24 fanti coming from Brescia also joined his force, as well as 40 Croatian cavalrymen and 2 cannons coming from Verona. On 27 March he decided to send off a scouting party, whilst at Castelnuovo del Garda
1,500 volunteers gathered.
News of the Veronese troop movements arrived at the Bermagascene valleys, where several anti-French revolts were breaking out. On 29 March the whole Bergamascene mountainous zone rose in revolt, in such great numbers that its leaders decided to march on Bergamo.
Around the same time the population of Salò
rose up, urged to resistance by Battaia, who assured them by letter that he would send them munitions and 80 dragoon
s. The letter roused the population's enthusiasm, and they succeeded in raising the Leone di San Marco flag and forcing the Jacobins to flee the city. A short time later the inhabitants of Maderno
, Tuscolano
and Teglie
also rose up. 1,000 men - Lombard Jacobins, Polish soldiers and French soldiers - that had gathered at Brescia were invited to Salò. These men met the insurgents at Villanuova
, not far from the little town of Garda, but they lacked ammunition and had to quickly retreat into Salò itself. A second encounter saw a victory by the inhabitants of Salò, thanks to an attack on the three sides of the mountain range of the val Sabbia: among the enemy troops, 66 were killed and several taken prisoner, including several Jacobin leaders.
Battaia, as he had promised, sent off 80 dragoons on 30 March. In the meantime Calcinato
and Bedizzole
hunted down local Jacobins, clearing the road to Salò for the dragoons, who thus reached Salò after capturing several fleeing Jacobins.
In the meantime a Veronese attack on Desenzano
failed : news of the uprising in the Bergamascene and Brescian valleys, at Lonato
and Salò encouraged the territories of the Venetian Republic, but on the same day came news that the French were attacked the insurgents who had surrounded Bergamo, and the following day that two battles had occurred - one had been won by the French, and the other by the insurgents, with the insurgents nevertheless having to retreat into the mountains and surrender, thus demonstrating the French army had the upper hand.
Maffei had decided to march on Brescia, but was convinced out of it by Battaia, for (according to Battaia) France could use such an action as a pretext for declaring war on Venice. With the support of Iseppo Giovannelli e Alvise Contarini (the Venetian government representatives in the city), Maffei had a clear road down which to advance but had orders to stop 10 miles short of Brescia - the troops would march to the top of the Mincio
but not advance on the city, with themselves and the insurgents blockading it on 3 sides.
General Charles Edward Kilmaine
(Irish in origin, but then serving in the French army) gathered 7,000 men at Milan
and left for Brescia, along the way attacking the rebelling villages and forcing them to fund his expedition. Meanwhile at Brescia general Landrieux threatened Maffei with a bombardment of Verona if he did not leave the field and so, after two short clashes between French and Venetian troops on 8 and 9 April, Maffei decided to retreat towards Verona.
In the meantime came news of the French's suppression of the rebellions at Lonato
and Salò
.
Contarini and Giovanelli on 6 April sent Nogarola to the defence of Verona's eastern borders, near Isola della Scala
, to protect them from attack from behind. On 15 April the stronghold of Peschiera del Garda, in Veronese territory, formally became a French possession. In the meanwhile 400 Poles marched towards Legnago
, the French artillery moved to lake Garda, enemy movements were sighted near Cerea
where Bevilacqua was positioned, and on the road for Vicenza was posted Giambattista Allegri.
French troops were welcomed into Castelnuovo, since neutrality was still technically in force. When, however, some Venetian troops went into church, leaving their weapons outside, the French requisitioned these weapons, thus once again breaching the neutrality. It was then that Maffei received the order to leave the Mincio, given the considerable risk of being picked off from behind.
After ten months of French occupation the situation had now also reached a critical point within the town: the French soldiers often confiscated the citizens' assets and plotted with the local Jacobins to replace the local government.
The forgery could easily have been unmasked - the manifesto had already been published in March in some newspapers, like the Termometro Politico and the Monitore Bolognese, and Battaia was at that time in Venice not Verona. The Venetian representatives had all copies taken down, and replaced them with a new manifesto denying the former one and urging the population to remain calm, but now the revolt had already been primed, and in the afternoon diverse brawls were already breaking out.
The French soldiers for their part tried to provoke the crowd, around 2 PM arresting a Venetian artilleryman, while at the same time a brawl broke out in a tavern in via Cappello between a Frenchman and a Croatian. The Frenchman came off worse and fled back to his own patrol, which protested loudly. It was then that the people took up arms en masse, and in the turmoil between the people and the soldiers came a rifle shot left which put the French to flight. Shortly after another brawl exploded in a tavern on Piazza delle Erbe
, while some people who had previously been kept in check by officers of the Venetian army attacked the guards to the Ponte Pietra
and Ponte Nuovo
. The French commanders then directed troops into the town, and stationed 600 men in piazza Bra
to monitor the situation.
The townspeople were calming down when, around 5 pm, on the orders of general Balland, the cannons of castel San Felice (the French headquarters) and Castel San Pietro opened fire, and numerous shots landed in piazza dei Signori. This French action was caused by the commanders' safety and ability to monitor the revolt easily, feeling it would be a useful pretext to occupy the town officially. Verona's citizens were at that moment entering the church, and were overcome with anger.
The first episode of the uprising occurred in Piazza d'Armi
, where 600 French soldiers were stationed near the hospital (today the site of palazzo Barbieri), whilst Venetian soldiers found themselves near the Liston (around 500) and under the Gran Guardia. Hearing the first shots of the French cannon, the French troops took up arms and set off quickly towards Castelvecchio
, whilst the Venetian troops were dismayed, not knowing what they were allowed to do after their commanders' had reminded them for months of the importance of Venetian neutrality. Meanwhile, the Veronese began firing from neighbouring palaces, injuring some soldiers.
The townspeople raged against the French troops who had vanished throughout the town and from their guard-points of the bridges. Numerous soldiers had been killed or captured, while those messengers who were fleeing went to hide in their companions' lodgings and the entrances were barricaded, but the townspeople got into these lodgings and even onto their roofs, even as the bombardment of the town from the surrounding strong points and from castel Vecchio continued.
At this moment Francesco Emilei was encamped near Lugagnano, a few kilometres from Verona, and on hearing of the revolt rapidly marched back to Verona with his troops. On the morning of the 17th the French had doubled their guards on the town gates, but Porta Vescovo was easily captured by Coldogno and (with a little more effort) Nogarola managed to take porta San Giorgio. Emilei took porta San Zeno from outside the city and was able to enter with 2,500 volunteers of the cernide, 600 other troops and 2 cannon, which he divided into 4 corps, posted in different locations in and outside the town: one corps was put outside porta Nuova to block the French escape, and another near bastione dei Riformati.
Armed with rifle
s, pistols, sabre
s, pitchforks and staffs
, the townsfolk rushed through the streets, killing, wounding and capturing several Frenchmen. One of the rebellion's first acts was to release several Austrian
troops from their prisons to join with the rebels.
In the late afternoon Emilei, who had just taken porta Nuova, decided to leave for Veneice to seek help from the Venetian army. In contrast Iseppo Giovannelli and Alvise Contarini
, the Venetian government representatives in the town, thought they could even now turn Verona back to its former Venetian neutrality, and so tried to make a compromise with the French military authorities, interrupting the sound of bells and hoisting a white flag atop torre dei Lamberti
. Balland paused the bombardment (even if battle continued around Castel Vecchio, it having been isolated from the castelli on the hills and was thus unable to gain information on the course of events). Negotiations thus began, which Balland wanted to prolong to give more time for French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations failed and the Venetian governors then sought in vain to calm down the populace. Fearful of how the situation would develop, in the meeting between 17 and 18 April the governors decided to withdraw to Vicenza
, and before their departure ordered the troops not to participate in the battle. Hence, on 18 April, Giovannelli and Contarini, according to the plan they had put forward in the meeting, would be directed to Venice, to ask the Senate for help. The order was carried out, at first, by Nogarola, Berettini and Allegri, while Antonio Maria Perez continued military operations. In the meantime the population continued to raid any buildings holding (or believed to hold) French soldiers, systematically killing them, while the streets of the town heard nothing but a continuous scream in every corner of the town of "Viva San Marco!".
, Emilei made preparations to get to Venice to contact the Senate, while in Verona Maffei and other military leaders sought to organise the army and the populace, since provveditore Bartolomeo Giuliari alone was unable to bear the gravity of the situation. The French cannon in castello di San Felice and castello di San Pietro opened fire again almost as soon as the truce expired, and quick French sorties (sent out from them with the aim of taking the pressure off Castel Vecchio) were quickly repulsed.
The news of the flight by the two provveditori irritated the populace, who continued to fight in an uncoordinated manner, whilst several peasants and mountain-dwellers arrived from Contado, some of whom were armed. Giuliari ordered the commanders to give weapons to those from Contado who had none, and produce a constitution for a provisional regency, which then put itself in contact with general Balland, stipulating a three hour truce elsewhere even if the battle around Castel Vecchio continued. Meanwhile some citizens succeeded in carrying artillery pieces up onto the colle San Leonardo, higher than both the surrounding hills (colle San Pietro and the Torricelle), and were thus easily able to fire down on the strong points on these hills. Some soldiers were shortly afterwards detached to support the townsfolk on the hill, and to defend the hills themselves.
The principal objective became the capture of Castel Vecchio, to which end the people transported two artillery pieces from bastione di Spagna to porta Borsari
and the roof of the teatro Filarmonico, on which wooden scaffolds were installed. Shortly afterwards the people were replaced there by Austrian soldiers, clearly more expert in this field. In the meantime other mortars taken from the enemy were used to besiege the castello, while from Bassano del Grappa
conte Augusto Verità arrived at the head of 200 Austrian prisoners. The French trapped in castel Vecchio carried a cannon up to the top of the clock tower and began to bombard porta Borsari
, but Augusto Verità responded by bombarding the clock tower with Austrian artillery, succeeding in hitting it, knocking off the cannon and forcing the French to evacuate it. Some of the French on the castle walls were also hit by cannon fire. Shortly before a new assault on the castle a band of French soldiers came out with a white flag as if under truce. Captain Rubbi advanced towards them to negotiate, but the French party then unmasked a cannon and began to fire it, killing Rubbi's soldiers and 30 Veronese. This unleashed all hell around the castello, whilst the timings of the revolt were rung out from torre dei Lamberti
, which the French unsuccessfully tried to demolish with cannon fire.
Many peasant volunteers began arriving from the countryside, armed with pitchforks, bastoni and small-arms. Of their resolution, Alberghini writes that "it appeared on the faces of all the desire to die for the Fatherland and of themselves to risk all. The peasants of Vallagarina
succeeded in attacking and capturing the church next to Rivoli Veronese
, while the mountain-dwellers of Lessinia attacked forte San Felice and castel San Pietro from the north. In the meantime conte Miniscalchi controlled the lake Garda
defence-line, Bevilacqua the line at Legnago
, and Allegri the San Bonifacio
line: Verona's borders were thus all guarded and - for the moment - calm.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg
arrived in the city with a band of soldiers, and informed Balland of the treaty of Leoben
Bonaparte had negotiated between the French Republic and the Austrian Empire
, while the population rejoiced, thinking he was bringing aid to Verona: thus the rebels lost their precious support from Austrian troops. Between intermittent truces, Verona was systematically bombarded from the strongholds and its population continued to fight around the strongholds and attempt to capture them.
, whilst Miniscalchi was blockaded at Bardolino
, leaving only Maffei outside Verona, at Valeggio
, who decided to withdraw to Sommacampagna
with his 900 infantry and 250 cavalry, so as not to be cut off by the French advance guard: arriving at Sommacampagna left his command to Ferro and returned to Verona in search of orders. The same day Emilei arrived back from Venice, without the help they had hoped for, while at Vicenza the two representatives were persuaded by Erizzo to return and resume negotiations with Balland: the general replied that he and his men would have left the town if the population had been disarmed but that, after the episode at Castel Vecchio, he could believe no one, not even the two representatives.
After this useless attempt at mediation, Contarini and Giovannelli organized the people, who shouted "we want war" and were prepared to defend the town to the bitter end, as shown by a proclamation in which they affirmed that "through removing confusion and disorder, fatal to the good of all, the faithful people of Verona remain committed to withdrew into their respective Contrade [districts]. There they will assign leaders, obedient to you, and be united in one body and the same leaders will obey the cariche's orders and always give themselves towards the common good".
Battle thus continued, in particular at Castel Vecchio, where the cannon had been given over to the inexpert hands of the Veronese citizens and so were not doing any more major damage. Meanwhile, from the colle San Leonardo, the bombardment of the strongholds continued, and the strongholds had turned to bombarding the city, causing several fires and adding to the damage already caused by the French raids: in one short sortie they had started fires in the surrounding palaces of the town's noble families, destroying several works of art. During another sortie, from Castel Vecchio, the French succeeded in setting light to palazzo Liorsi and palazzo Perez, though on their return all but five of the French soldiers were killed by the rioters.
Near the lazzaretto di Sanmicheli, occupied by a French hospital, a column of armed peasants headed towards the city heard a few rifle shots coming from inside the hospital - enraged, the peasants beat down its doors and massacred the six French soldiers they found inside.
In the afternoon Neipperg and his soldiers left Verona, given that the truce between France and Austria was only due to last a week. In compensation he warned the population that if they resisted him while the truce was still in force he would return to help them. Meanwhile a French scouting party approached porta San Zeno, which withdrew immediately when fired on by cannon mounted on the city walls. In the same instant, however, they met the column of soldiers under Maffei which was guarding the Chievo
line at Santa Lucia
. In this line were positioned around 6,000 men under Chabran, while the men under Victor and Miollis
were still marching for Verona.
of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona
and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte
(the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. They are so-called due to association with the Sicilian Vespers
. Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter
: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.
insurgency movement which arose throughout the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1814 - other important episodes included the campaigns of the Armata della Santa Fede which, guided by cardinal Ruffo
, succeeded in reconquering the kingdom of Naples
, the actions of the Viva Maria
band in Tuscany
and Liguria
, and Andreas Hofer
's victories in the County of Tyrol
. The movement's followers were numerous, with sources talking of at least 280,000 insurgents and 70,000 dead.
These revolts were primarily against French domination Jacobin-inspired French political ideology, opposed as such ideology was to prevailing opinions fundamental to Italian society in that period.
Napoleon's objective, even as early as spring 1796, was the conquest of rich venetic
Lombardy
, and in effect French troops, initially welcomed on the assumption that their stay would be brief, had reached Brescia
and Verona by the end of the year : these cities were technically under Venetian domination, and thus the foundations were laid for the events of the following year. The French troops arrived in Verona on 1 June 1796, occupying the military strong-points and billeting troops in other buildings despite the Republic of Venice
already having declared its neutrality.
The relations between the population and the Venetian departments on one side, and the French troops on the other, was difficult from the start, for the French troops behaved more as occupiers than guests. Bergamo, in contrast, resisted the French invasion.
of Bergamo
and a patriot who had raised 10,000 men for the defence of the Bergamasca Nation, at the end of December had to accept general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
's request to billet French troops inside the city, since without soldiers they could not have resisted the French force and since (due to Venetian neutrality) the city could not consent to an attack. The French general, however, did not lower the flags of San Marco, given that this city too was officially under Venetian control.
The next phase of Napoleon's plan assumed that the region's democratisation would lead to the administration passing into the hands of the Jacobin Lombards, who would then create a republic (comprising the territories as far as Verona, or even Padova) allied to France. When secret information of this reached Ottolini, he immediately informed Venice's provveditore
. Francesco Battaia, hesitating to follow up his actions with force, replied that Ottolini should double-check if this information was true. Thanks to a spy, Ottolini quickly confirmed Napoleon's intentions, but still Battaia did nothing.
The work of democratising Bergamao was initiated by François Joseph Lefebvre
, the successor to Baraguay d'Hilliers, but there were too few Jacobin locals. Napoleon reminded the general that the democratisation should appear to be the will of the people - the general, therefore, whilst keeping Ottolini otherwise occupied, summoned representatives of the citizen-body to secede from Venice's rule. These representatives protested but were obliged to assent. Ottolini had in the mentime recalled some military companies from the provinces, and the French used this action as a pretext for occupying the city. Bergamo thus officially became the first city in the Veneto removed from Venice's rule, and Ottolini was forced to give up the city. In the meantime, Napoleon set off to march on Vienna
via the defiles of Carinthia
, ultimately ending up in Leoben
negotiating a treaty with Austria
.
. In this case, despite the town already being partially under French control, the democratisation would have to be conducted (or at least appear to be conducted) by the local Jacobins, given that at Bergamo French involvement in the process had been too obvious. On 16 March, a column of soldiers (partly French, partly local Jacobins) left for Brescia. Its podestà, Giovanni Alvise Mocenigo, wished to attack this hostile column but was stopped from doing so by Battaia, who was still worried about the eventual use of force.
Two days later 200 men entered Brescia and, with the aid of Brescian Jacobins, put down what little resistance was offered. Their first act after gaining the city was to hunt down Battaia, who had fled to Verona. Although lacking the support of the population, with French help the Jacobins succeeded in democratising the countryside and (on 28 March) the town of Crema
.
Action was immediately taken: Miniscalchi was put in command of the long defence-line at Garda
, and Bevilacqua of the line between Villafranca di Verona
and the border with Ferrara
, with Maffei positioned between these two lines.
Meanwhile conte Augusto Verità had returned to Verona. Always enjoying good relations with the French, he proposed to get an assurance of French neutrality before the Veronese forces clashed with the Jacobins. Writing to the commander of the French troops at Verona, general Antoine Balland, he stated:
The substance of the letter was a request for authorisation to defend Verona's boundaries against aggressors, which the French general was forced to consent to, since if he did not the only way they could officialise their arrival would be through Venice's authority over her territories. Bonaparte agreed with Balland's decision, and informed the Venetian senate that French troops would not intervene and that he was hurt by how much success they had had at Bergamo and Brescia. Balland's response to the letter aroused Verona's inhabitants to great enthusiasm for defending their own territory.
Initially the military leaders were instructed to defend Verona's borders with practically no men, although the cernide
was able to offer 6,000 men, and many volunteers arrived, especially from Valpolicella
.
On 23 March news reached Verona that 500 Jacobin soldiers headed for Peschiera del Garda
or Valeggio sul Mincio
had set out from Brescia - the officials and troops rushed to take up their positions. Miniscalchi went to Colà, a small village above the hills of Lazise
, Giusti to Povegliano Veronese
, Bevilacqua to Cerea
, and Maffei to Valeggio. From Valeggio Maffei could see that the enemy troops were still not in sight, and was thus had time to put his own troops in better order. 24 fanti coming from Brescia also joined his force, as well as 40 Croatian cavalrymen and 2 cannons coming from Verona. On 27 March he decided to send off a scouting party, whilst at Castelnuovo del Garda
1,500 volunteers gathered.
News of the Veronese troop movements arrived at the Bermagascene valleys, where several anti-French revolts were breaking out. On 29 March the whole Bergamascene mountainous zone rose in revolt, in such great numbers that its leaders decided to march on Bergamo.
Around the same time the population of Salò
rose up, urged to resistance by Battaia, who assured them by letter that he would send them munitions and 80 dragoon
s. The letter roused the population's enthusiasm, and they succeeded in raising the Leone di San Marco flag and forcing the Jacobins to flee the city. A short time later the inhabitants of Maderno
, Tuscolano
and Teglie
also rose up. 1,000 men - Lombard Jacobins, Polish soldiers and French soldiers - that had gathered at Brescia were invited to Salò. These men met the insurgents at Villanuova
, not far from the little town of Garda, but they lacked ammunition and had to quickly retreat into Salò itself. A second encounter saw a victory by the inhabitants of Salò, thanks to an attack on the three sides of the mountain range of the val Sabbia: among the enemy troops, 66 were killed and several taken prisoner, including several Jacobin leaders.
Battaia, as he had promised, sent off 80 dragoons on 30 March. In the meantime Calcinato
and Bedizzole
hunted down local Jacobins, clearing the road to Salò for the dragoons, who thus reached Salò after capturing several fleeing Jacobins.
In the meantime a Veronese attack on Desenzano
failed : news of the uprising in the Bergamascene and Brescian valleys, at Lonato
and Salò encouraged the territories of the Venetian Republic, but on the same day came news that the French were attacked the insurgents who had surrounded Bergamo, and the following day that two battles had occurred - one had been won by the French, and the other by the insurgents, with the insurgents nevertheless having to retreat into the mountains and surrender, thus demonstrating the French army had the upper hand.
Maffei had decided to march on Brescia, but was convinced out of it by Battaia, for (according to Battaia) France could use such an action as a pretext for declaring war on Venice. With the support of Iseppo Giovannelli e Alvise Contarini (the Venetian government representatives in the city), Maffei had a clear road down which to advance but had orders to stop 10 miles short of Brescia - the troops would march to the top of the Mincio
but not advance on the city, with themselves and the insurgents blockading it on 3 sides.
General Charles Edward Kilmaine
(Irish in origin, but then serving in the French army) gathered 7,000 men at Milan
and left for Brescia, along the way attacking the rebelling villages and forcing them to fund his expedition. Meanwhile at Brescia general Landrieux threatened Maffei with a bombardment of Verona if he did not leave the field and so, after two short clashes between French and Venetian troops on 8 and 9 April, Maffei decided to retreat towards Verona.
In the meantime came news of the French's suppression of the rebellions at Lonato
and Salò
.
Contarini and Giovanelli on 6 April sent Nogarola to the defence of Verona's eastern borders, near Isola della Scala
, to protect them from attack from behind. On 15 April the stronghold of Peschiera del Garda, in Veronese territory, formally became a French possession. In the meanwhile 400 Poles marched towards Legnago
, the French artillery moved to lake Garda, enemy movements were sighted near Cerea
where Bevilacqua was positioned, and on the road for Vicenza was posted Giambattista Allegri.
French troops were welcomed into Castelnuovo, since neutrality was still technically in force. When, however, some Venetian troops went into church, leaving their weapons outside, the French requisitioned these weapons, thus once again breaching the neutrality. It was then that Maffei received the order to leave the Mincio, given the considerable risk of being picked off from behind.
After ten months of French occupation the situation had now also reached a critical point within the town: the French soldiers often confiscated the citizens' assets and plotted with the local Jacobins to replace the local government.
The forgery could easily have been unmasked - the manifesto had already been published in March in some newspapers, like the Termometro Politico and the Monitore Bolognese, and Battaia was at that time in Venice not Verona. The Venetian representatives had all copies taken down, and replaced them with a new manifesto denying the former one and urging the population to remain calm, but now the revolt had already been primed, and in the afternoon diverse brawls were already breaking out.
The French soldiers for their part tried to provoke the crowd, around 2 PM arresting a Venetian artilleryman, while at the same time a brawl broke out in a tavern in via Cappello between a Frenchman and a Croatian. The Frenchman came off worse and fled back to his own patrol, which protested loudly. It was then that the people took up arms en masse, and in the turmoil between the people and the soldiers came a rifle shot left which put the French to flight. Shortly after another brawl exploded in a tavern on Piazza delle Erbe
, while some people who had previously been kept in check by officers of the Venetian army attacked the guards to the Ponte Pietra
and Ponte Nuovo
. The French commanders then directed troops into the town, and stationed 600 men in piazza Bra
to monitor the situation.
The townspeople were calming down when, around 5 pm, on the orders of general Balland, the cannons of castel San Felice (the French headquarters) and Castel San Pietro opened fire, and numerous shots landed in piazza dei Signori. This French action was caused by the commanders' safety and ability to monitor the revolt easily, feeling it would be a useful pretext to occupy the town officially. Verona's citizens were at that moment entering the church, and were overcome with anger.
The first episode of the uprising occurred in Piazza d'Armi
, where 600 French soldiers were stationed near the hospital (today the site of palazzo Barbieri), whilst Venetian soldiers found themselves near the Liston (around 500) and under the Gran Guardia. Hearing the first shots of the French cannon, the French troops took up arms and set off quickly towards Castelvecchio
, whilst the Venetian troops were dismayed, not knowing what they were allowed to do after their commanders' had reminded them for months of the importance of Venetian neutrality. Meanwhile, the Veronese began firing from neighbouring palaces, injuring some soldiers.
The townspeople raged against the French troops who had vanished throughout the town and from their guard-points of the bridges. Numerous soldiers had been killed or captured, while those messengers who were fleeing went to hide in their companions' lodgings and the entrances were barricaded, but the townspeople got into these lodgings and even onto their roofs, even as the bombardment of the town from the surrounding strong points and from castel Vecchio continued.
At this moment Francesco Emilei was encamped near Lugagnano, a few kilometres from Verona, and on hearing of the revolt rapidly marched back to Verona with his troops. On the morning of the 17th the French had doubled their guards on the town gates, but Porta Vescovo was easily captured by Coldogno and (with a little more effort) Nogarola managed to take porta San Giorgio. Emilei took porta San Zeno from outside the city and was able to enter with 2,500 volunteers of the cernide, 600 other troops and 2 cannon, which he divided into 4 corps, posted in different locations in and outside the town: one corps was put outside porta Nuova to block the French escape, and another near bastione dei Riformati.
Armed with rifle
s, pistols, sabre
s, pitchforks and staffs
, the townsfolk rushed through the streets, killing, wounding and capturing several Frenchmen. One of the rebellion's first acts was to release several Austrian
troops from their prisons to join with the rebels.
In the late afternoon Emilei, who had just taken porta Nuova, decided to leave for Veneice to seek help from the Venetian army. In contrast Iseppo Giovannelli and Alvise Contarini
, the Venetian government representatives in the town, thought they could even now turn Verona back to its former Venetian neutrality, and so tried to make a compromise with the French military authorities, interrupting the sound of bells and hoisting a white flag atop torre dei Lamberti
. Balland paused the bombardment (even if battle continued around Castel Vecchio, it having been isolated from the castelli on the hills and was thus unable to gain information on the course of events). Negotiations thus began, which Balland wanted to prolong to give more time for French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations failed and the Venetian governors then sought in vain to calm down the populace. Fearful of how the situation would develop, in the meeting between 17 and 18 April the governors decided to withdraw to Vicenza
, and before their departure ordered the troops not to participate in the battle. Hence, on 18 April, Giovannelli and Contarini, according to the plan they had put forward in the meeting, would be directed to Venice, to ask the Senate for help. The order was carried out, at first, by Nogarola, Berettini and Allegri, while Antonio Maria Perez continued military operations. In the meantime the population continued to raid any buildings holding (or believed to hold) French soldiers, systematically killing them, while the streets of the town heard nothing but a continuous scream in every corner of the town of "Viva San Marco!".
, Emilei made preparations to get to Venice to contact the Senate, while in Verona Maffei and other military leaders sought to organise the army and the populace, since provveditore Bartolomeo Giuliari alone was unable to bear the gravity of the situation. The French cannon in castello di San Felice and castello di San Pietro opened fire again almost as soon as the truce expired, and quick French sorties (sent out from them with the aim of taking the pressure off Castel Vecchio) were quickly repulsed.
The news of the flight by the two provveditori irritated the populace, who continued to fight in an uncoordinated manner, whilst several peasants and mountain-dwellers arrived from Contado, some of whom were armed. Giuliari ordered the commanders to give weapons to those from Contado who had none, and produce a constitution for a provisional regency, which then put itself in contact with general Balland, stipulating a three hour truce elsewhere even if the battle around Castel Vecchio continued. Meanwhile some citizens succeeded in carrying artillery pieces up onto the colle San Leonardo, higher than both the surrounding hills (colle San Pietro and the Torricelle), and were thus easily able to fire down on the strong points on these hills. Some soldiers were shortly afterwards detached to support the townsfolk on the hill, and to defend the hills themselves.
The principal objective became the capture of Castel Vecchio, to which end the people transported two artillery pieces from bastione di Spagna to porta Borsari
and the roof of the teatro Filarmonico, on which wooden scaffolds were installed. Shortly afterwards the people were replaced there by Austrian soldiers, clearly more expert in this field. In the meantime other mortars taken from the enemy were used to besiege the castello, while from Bassano del Grappa
conte Augusto Verità arrived at the head of 200 Austrian prisoners. The French trapped in castel Vecchio carried a cannon up to the top of the clock tower and began to bombard porta Borsari
, but Augusto Verità responded by bombarding the clock tower with Austrian artillery, succeeding in hitting it, knocking off the cannon and forcing the French to evacuate it. Some of the French on the castle walls were also hit by cannon fire. Shortly before a new assault on the castle a band of French soldiers came out with a white flag as if under truce. Captain Rubbi advanced towards them to negotiate, but the French party then unmasked a cannon and began to fire it, killing Rubbi's soldiers and 30 Veronese. This unleashed all hell around the castello, whilst the timings of the revolt were rung out from torre dei Lamberti
, which the French unsuccessfully tried to demolish with cannon fire.
Many peasant volunteers began arriving from the countryside, armed with pitchforks, bastoni and small-arms. Of their resolution, Alberghini writes that "it appeared on the faces of all the desire to die for the Fatherland and of themselves to risk all. The peasants of Vallagarina
succeeded in attacking and capturing the church next to Rivoli Veronese
, while the mountain-dwellers of Lessinia attacked forte San Felice and castel San Pietro from the north. In the meantime conte Miniscalchi controlled the lake Garda
defence-line, Bevilacqua the line at Legnago
, and Allegri the San Bonifacio
line: Verona's borders were thus all guarded and - for the moment - calm.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg
arrived in the city with a band of soldiers, and informed Balland of the treaty of Leoben
Bonaparte had negotiated between the French Republic and the Austrian Empire
, while the population rejoiced, thinking he was bringing aid to Verona: thus the rebels lost their precious support from Austrian troops. Between intermittent truces, Verona was systematically bombarded from the strongholds and its population continued to fight around the strongholds and attempt to capture them.
, whilst Miniscalchi was blockaded at Bardolino
, leaving only Maffei outside Verona, at Valeggio
, who decided to withdraw to Sommacampagna
with his 900 infantry and 250 cavalry, so as not to be cut off by the French advance guard: arriving at Sommacampagna left his command to Ferro and returned to Verona in search of orders. The same day Emilei arrived back from Venice, without the help they had hoped for, while at Vicenza the two representatives were persuaded by Erizzo to return and resume negotiations with Balland: the general replied that he and his men would have left the town if the population had been disarmed but that, after the episode at Castel Vecchio, he could believe no one, not even the two representatives.
After this useless attempt at mediation, Contarini and Giovannelli organized the people, who shouted "we want war" and were prepared to defend the town to the bitter end, as shown by a proclamation in which they affirmed that "through removing confusion and disorder, fatal to the good of all, the faithful people of Verona remain committed to withdrew into their respective Contrade [districts]. There they will assign leaders, obedient to you, and be united in one body and the same leaders will obey the cariche's orders and always give themselves towards the common good".
Battle thus continued, in particular at Castel Vecchio, where the cannon had been given over to the inexpert hands of the Veronese citizens and so were not doing any more major damage. Meanwhile, from the colle San Leonardo, the bombardment of the strongholds continued, and the strongholds had turned to bombarding the city, causing several fires and adding to the damage already caused by the French raids: in one short sortie they had started fires in the surrounding palaces of the town's noble families, destroying several works of art. During another sortie, from Castel Vecchio, the French succeeded in setting light to palazzo Liorsi and palazzo Perez, though on their return all but five of the French soldiers were killed by the rioters.
Near the lazzaretto di Sanmicheli, occupied by a French hospital, a column of armed peasants headed towards the city heard a few rifle shots coming from inside the hospital - enraged, the peasants beat down its doors and massacred the six French soldiers they found inside.
In the afternoon Neipperg and his soldiers left Verona, given that the truce between France and Austria was only due to last a week. In compensation he warned the population that if they resisted him while the truce was still in force he would return to help them. Meanwhile a French scouting party approached porta San Zeno, which withdrew immediately when fired on by cannon mounted on the city walls. In the same instant, however, they met the column of soldiers under Maffei which was guarding the Chievo
line at Santa Lucia
. In this line were positioned around 6,000 men under Chabran, while the men under Victor and Miollis
were still marching for Verona.
of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona
and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte
(the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. They are so-called due to association with the Sicilian Vespers
. Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter
: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.
insurgency movement which arose throughout the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1814 - other important episodes included the campaigns of the Armata della Santa Fede which, guided by cardinal Ruffo
, succeeded in reconquering the kingdom of Naples
, the actions of the Viva Maria
band in Tuscany
and Liguria
, and Andreas Hofer
's victories in the County of Tyrol
. The movement's followers were numerous, with sources talking of at least 280,000 insurgents and 70,000 dead.
These revolts were primarily against French domination Jacobin-inspired French political ideology, opposed as such ideology was to prevailing opinions fundamental to Italian society in that period.
Napoleon's objective, even as early as spring 1796, was the conquest of rich venetic
Lombardy
, and in effect French troops, initially welcomed on the assumption that their stay would be brief, had reached Brescia
and Verona by the end of the year : these cities were technically under Venetian domination, and thus the foundations were laid for the events of the following year. The French troops arrived in Verona on 1 June 1796, occupying the military strong-points and billeting troops in other buildings despite the Republic of Venice
already having declared its neutrality.
The relations between the population and the Venetian departments on one side, and the French troops on the other, was difficult from the start, for the French troops behaved more as occupiers than guests. Bergamo, in contrast, resisted the French invasion.
of Bergamo
and a patriot who had raised 10,000 men for the defence of the Bergamasca Nation, at the end of December had to accept general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
's request to billet French troops inside the city, since without soldiers they could not have resisted the French force and since (due to Venetian neutrality) the city could not consent to an attack. The French general, however, did not lower the flags of San Marco, given that this city too was officially under Venetian control.
The next phase of Napoleon's plan assumed that the region's democratisation would lead to the administration passing into the hands of the Jacobin Lombards, who would then create a republic (comprising the territories as far as Verona, or even Padova) allied to France. When secret information of this reached Ottolini, he immediately informed Venice's provveditore
. Francesco Battaia, hesitating to follow up his actions with force, replied that Ottolini should double-check if this information was true. Thanks to a spy, Ottolini quickly confirmed Napoleon's intentions, but still Battaia did nothing.
The work of democratising Bergamao was initiated by François Joseph Lefebvre
, the successor to Baraguay d'Hilliers, but there were too few Jacobin locals. Napoleon reminded the general that the democratisation should appear to be the will of the people - the general, therefore, whilst keeping Ottolini otherwise occupied, summoned representatives of the citizen-body to secede from Venice's rule. These representatives protested but were obliged to assent. Ottolini had in the mentime recalled some military companies from the provinces, and the French used this action as a pretext for occupying the city. Bergamo thus officially became the first city in the Veneto removed from Venice's rule, and Ottolini was forced to give up the city. In the meantime, Napoleon set off to march on Vienna
via the defiles of Carinthia
, ultimately ending up in Leoben
negotiating a treaty with Austria
.
. In this case, despite the town already being partially under French control, the democratisation would have to be conducted (or at least appear to be conducted) by the local Jacobins, given that at Bergamo French involvement in the process had been too obvious. On 16 March, a column of soldiers (partly French, partly local Jacobins) left for Brescia. Its podestà, Giovanni Alvise Mocenigo, wished to attack this hostile column but was stopped from doing so by Battaia, who was still worried about the eventual use of force.
Two days later 200 men entered Brescia and, with the aid of Brescian Jacobins, put down what little resistance was offered. Their first act after gaining the city was to hunt down Battaia, who had fled to Verona. Although lacking the support of the population, with French help the Jacobins succeeded in democratising the countryside and (on 28 March) the town of Crema
.
Action was immediately taken: Miniscalchi was put in command of the long defence-line at Garda
, and Bevilacqua of the line between Villafranca di Verona
and the border with Ferrara
, with Maffei positioned between these two lines.
Meanwhile conte Augusto Verità had returned to Verona. Always enjoying good relations with the French, he proposed to get an assurance of French neutrality before the Veronese forces clashed with the Jacobins. Writing to the commander of the French troops at Verona, general Antoine Balland, he stated:
The substance of the letter was a request for authorisation to defend Verona's boundaries against aggressors, which the French general was forced to consent to, since if he did not the only way they could officialise their arrival would be through Venice's authority over her territories. Bonaparte agreed with Balland's decision, and informed the Venetian senate that French troops would not intervene and that he was hurt by how much success they had had at Bergamo and Brescia. Balland's response to the letter aroused Verona's inhabitants to great enthusiasm for defending their own territory.
Initially the military leaders were instructed to defend Verona's borders with practically no men, although the cernide
was able to offer 6,000 men, and many volunteers arrived, especially from Valpolicella
.
On 23 March news reached Verona that 500 Jacobin soldiers headed for Peschiera del Garda
or Valeggio sul Mincio
had set out from Brescia - the officials and troops rushed to take up their positions. Miniscalchi went to Colà, a small village above the hills of Lazise
, Giusti to Povegliano Veronese
, Bevilacqua to Cerea
, and Maffei to Valeggio. From Valeggio Maffei could see that the enemy troops were still not in sight, and was thus had time to put his own troops in better order. 24 fanti coming from Brescia also joined his force, as well as 40 Croatian cavalrymen and 2 cannons coming from Verona. On 27 March he decided to send off a scouting party, whilst at Castelnuovo del Garda
1,500 volunteers gathered.
News of the Veronese troop movements arrived at the Bermagascene valleys, where several anti-French revolts were breaking out. On 29 March the whole Bergamascene mountainous zone rose in revolt, in such great numbers that its leaders decided to march on Bergamo.
Around the same time the population of Salò
rose up, urged to resistance by Battaia, who assured them by letter that he would send them munitions and 80 dragoon
s. The letter roused the population's enthusiasm, and they succeeded in raising the Leone di San Marco flag and forcing the Jacobins to flee the city. A short time later the inhabitants of Maderno
, Tuscolano
and Teglie
also rose up. 1,000 men - Lombard Jacobins, Polish soldiers and French soldiers - that had gathered at Brescia were invited to Salò. These men met the insurgents at Villanuova
, not far from the little town of Garda, but they lacked ammunition and had to quickly retreat into Salò itself. A second encounter saw a victory by the inhabitants of Salò, thanks to an attack on the three sides of the mountain range of the val Sabbia: among the enemy troops, 66 were killed and several taken prisoner, including several Jacobin leaders.
Battaia, as he had promised, sent off 80 dragoons on 30 March. In the meantime Calcinato
and Bedizzole
hunted down local Jacobins, clearing the road to Salò for the dragoons, who thus reached Salò after capturing several fleeing Jacobins.
In the meantime a Veronese attack on Desenzano
failed : news of the uprising in the Bergamascene and Brescian valleys, at Lonato
and Salò encouraged the territories of the Venetian Republic, but on the same day came news that the French were attacked the insurgents who had surrounded Bergamo, and the following day that two battles had occurred - one had been won by the French, and the other by the insurgents, with the insurgents nevertheless having to retreat into the mountains and surrender, thus demonstrating the French army had the upper hand.
Maffei had decided to march on Brescia, but was convinced out of it by Battaia, for (according to Battaia) France could use such an action as a pretext for declaring war on Venice. With the support of Iseppo Giovannelli e Alvise Contarini (the Venetian government representatives in the city), Maffei had a clear road down which to advance but had orders to stop 10 miles short of Brescia - the troops would march to the top of the Mincio
but not advance on the city, with themselves and the insurgents blockading it on 3 sides.
General Charles Edward Kilmaine
(Irish in origin, but then serving in the French army) gathered 7,000 men at Milan
and left for Brescia, along the way attacking the rebelling villages and forcing them to fund his expedition. Meanwhile at Brescia general Landrieux threatened Maffei with a bombardment of Verona if he did not leave the field and so, after two short clashes between French and Venetian troops on 8 and 9 April, Maffei decided to retreat towards Verona.
In the meantime came news of the French's suppression of the rebellions at Lonato
and Salò
.
Contarini and Giovanelli on 6 April sent Nogarola to the defence of Verona's eastern borders, near Isola della Scala
, to protect them from attack from behind. On 15 April the stronghold of Peschiera del Garda, in Veronese territory, formally became a French possession. In the meanwhile 400 Poles marched towards Legnago
, the French artillery moved to lake Garda, enemy movements were sighted near Cerea
where Bevilacqua was positioned, and on the road for Vicenza was posted Giambattista Allegri.
French troops were welcomed into Castelnuovo, since neutrality was still technically in force. When, however, some Venetian troops went into church, leaving their weapons outside, the French requisitioned these weapons, thus once again breaching the neutrality. It was then that Maffei received the order to leave the Mincio, given the considerable risk of being picked off from behind.
After ten months of French occupation the situation had now also reached a critical point within the town: the French soldiers often confiscated the citizens' assets and plotted with the local Jacobins to replace the local government.
The forgery could easily have been unmasked - the manifesto had already been published in March in some newspapers, like the Termometro Politico and the Monitore Bolognese, and Battaia was at that time in Venice not Verona. The Venetian representatives had all copies taken down, and replaced them with a new manifesto denying the former one and urging the population to remain calm, but now the revolt had already been primed, and in the afternoon diverse brawls were already breaking out.
The French soldiers for their part tried to provoke the crowd, around 2 PM arresting a Venetian artilleryman, while at the same time a brawl broke out in a tavern in via Cappello between a Frenchman and a Croatian. The Frenchman came off worse and fled back to his own patrol, which protested loudly. It was then that the people took up arms en masse, and in the turmoil between the people and the soldiers came a rifle shot left which put the French to flight. Shortly after another brawl exploded in a tavern on Piazza delle Erbe
, while some people who had previously been kept in check by officers of the Venetian army attacked the guards to the Ponte Pietra
and Ponte Nuovo
. The French commanders then directed troops into the town, and stationed 600 men in piazza Bra
to monitor the situation.
The townspeople were calming down when, around 5 pm, on the orders of general Balland, the cannons of castel San Felice (the French headquarters) and Castel San Pietro opened fire, and numerous shots landed in piazza dei Signori. This French action was caused by the commanders' safety and ability to monitor the revolt easily, feeling it would be a useful pretext to occupy the town officially. Verona's citizens were at that moment entering the church, and were overcome with anger.
The first episode of the uprising occurred in Piazza d'Armi
, where 600 French soldiers were stationed near the hospital (today the site of palazzo Barbieri), whilst Venetian soldiers found themselves near the Liston (around 500) and under the Gran Guardia. Hearing the first shots of the French cannon, the French troops took up arms and set off quickly towards Castelvecchio
, whilst the Venetian troops were dismayed, not knowing what they were allowed to do after their commanders' had reminded them for months of the importance of Venetian neutrality. Meanwhile, the Veronese began firing from neighbouring palaces, injuring some soldiers.
The townspeople raged against the French troops who had vanished throughout the town and from their guard-points of the bridges. Numerous soldiers had been killed or captured, while those messengers who were fleeing went to hide in their companions' lodgings and the entrances were barricaded, but the townspeople got into these lodgings and even onto their roofs, even as the bombardment of the town from the surrounding strong points and from castel Vecchio continued.
At this moment Francesco Emilei was encamped near Lugagnano, a few kilometres from Verona, and on hearing of the revolt rapidly marched back to Verona with his troops. On the morning of the 17th the French had doubled their guards on the town gates, but Porta Vescovo was easily captured by Coldogno and (with a little more effort) Nogarola managed to take porta San Giorgio. Emilei took porta San Zeno from outside the city and was able to enter with 2,500 volunteers of the cernide, 600 other troops and 2 cannon, which he divided into 4 corps, posted in different locations in and outside the town: one corps was put outside porta Nuova to block the French escape, and another near bastione dei Riformati.
Armed with rifle
s, pistols, sabre
s, pitchforks and staffs
, the townsfolk rushed through the streets, killing, wounding and capturing several Frenchmen. One of the rebellion's first acts was to release several Austrian
troops from their prisons to join with the rebels.
In the late afternoon Emilei, who had just taken porta Nuova, decided to leave for Veneice to seek help from the Venetian army. In contrast Iseppo Giovannelli and Alvise Contarini
, the Venetian government representatives in the town, thought they could even now turn Verona back to its former Venetian neutrality, and so tried to make a compromise with the French military authorities, interrupting the sound of bells and hoisting a white flag atop torre dei Lamberti
. Balland paused the bombardment (even if battle continued around Castel Vecchio, it having been isolated from the castelli on the hills and was thus unable to gain information on the course of events). Negotiations thus began, which Balland wanted to prolong to give more time for French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations failed and the Venetian governors then sought in vain to calm down the populace. Fearful of how the situation would develop, in the meeting between 17 and 18 April the governors decided to withdraw to Vicenza
, and before their departure ordered the troops not to participate in the battle. Hence, on 18 April, Giovannelli and Contarini, according to the plan they had put forward in the meeting, would be directed to Venice, to ask the Senate for help. The order was carried out, at first, by Nogarola, Berettini and Allegri, while Antonio Maria Perez continued military operations. In the meantime the population continued to raid any buildings holding (or believed to hold) French soldiers, systematically killing them, while the streets of the town heard nothing but a continuous scream in every corner of the town of "Viva San Marco!".
, Emilei made preparations to get to Venice to contact the Senate, while in Verona Maffei and other military leaders sought to organise the army and the populace, since provveditore Bartolomeo Giuliari alone was unable to bear the gravity of the situation. The French cannon in castello di San Felice and castello di San Pietro opened fire again almost as soon as the truce expired, and quick French sorties (sent out from them with the aim of taking the pressure off Castel Vecchio) were quickly repulsed.
The news of the flight by the two provveditori irritated the populace, who continued to fight in an uncoordinated manner, whilst several peasants and mountain-dwellers arrived from Contado, some of whom were armed. Giuliari ordered the commanders to give weapons to those from Contado who had none, and produce a constitution for a provisional regency, which then put itself in contact with general Balland, stipulating a three hour truce elsewhere even if the battle around Castel Vecchio continued. Meanwhile some citizens succeeded in carrying artillery pieces up onto the colle San Leonardo, higher than both the surrounding hills (colle San Pietro and the Torricelle), and were thus easily able to fire down on the strong points on these hills. Some soldiers were shortly afterwards detached to support the townsfolk on the hill, and to defend the hills themselves.
The principal objective became the capture of Castel Vecchio, to which end the people transported two artillery pieces from bastione di Spagna to porta Borsari
and the roof of the teatro Filarmonico, on which wooden scaffolds were installed. Shortly afterwards the people were replaced there by Austrian soldiers, clearly more expert in this field. In the meantime other mortars taken from the enemy were used to besiege the castello, while from Bassano del Grappa
conte Augusto Verità arrived at the head of 200 Austrian prisoners. The French trapped in castel Vecchio carried a cannon up to the top of the clock tower and began to bombard porta Borsari
, but Augusto Verità responded by bombarding the clock tower with Austrian artillery, succeeding in hitting it, knocking off the cannon and forcing the French to evacuate it. Some of the French on the castle walls were also hit by cannon fire. Shortly before a new assault on the castle a band of French soldiers came out with a white flag as if under truce. Captain Rubbi advanced towards them to negotiate, but the French party then unmasked a cannon and began to fire it, killing Rubbi's soldiers and 30 Veronese. This unleashed all hell around the castello, whilst the timings of the revolt were rung out from torre dei Lamberti
, which the French unsuccessfully tried to demolish with cannon fire.
Many peasant volunteers began arriving from the countryside, armed with pitchforks, bastoni and small-arms. Of their resolution, Alberghini writes that "it appeared on the faces of all the desire to die for the Fatherland and of themselves to risk all. The peasants of Vallagarina
succeeded in attacking and capturing the church next to Rivoli Veronese
, while the mountain-dwellers of Lessinia attacked forte San Felice and castel San Pietro from the north. In the meantime conte Miniscalchi controlled the lake Garda
defence-line, Bevilacqua the line at Legnago
, and Allegri the San Bonifacio
line: Verona's borders were thus all guarded and - for the moment - calm.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg
arrived in the city with a band of soldiers, and informed Balland of the treaty of Leoben
Bonaparte had negotiated between the French Republic and the Austrian Empire
, while the population rejoiced, thinking he was bringing aid to Verona: thus the rebels lost their precious support from Austrian troops. Between intermittent truces, Verona was systematically bombarded from the strongholds and its population continued to fight around the strongholds and attempt to capture them.
, whilst Miniscalchi was blockaded at Bardolino
, leaving only Maffei outside Verona, at Valeggio
, who decided to withdraw to Sommacampagna
with his 900 infantry and 250 cavalry, so as not to be cut off by the French advance guard: arriving at Sommacampagna left his command to Ferro and returned to Verona in search of orders. The same day Emilei arrived back from Venice, without the help they had hoped for, while at Vicenza the two representatives were persuaded by Erizzo to return and resume negotiations with Balland: the general replied that he and his men would have left the town if the population had been disarmed but that, after the episode at Castel Vecchio, he could believe no one, not even the two representatives.
After this useless attempt at mediation, Contarini and Giovannelli organized the people, who shouted "we want war" and were prepared to defend the town to the bitter end, as shown by a proclamation in which they affirmed that "through removing confusion and disorder, fatal to the good of all, the faithful people of Verona remain committed to withdrew into their respective Contrade [districts]. There they will assign leaders, obedient to you, and be united in one body and the same leaders will obey the cariche's orders and always give themselves towards the common good".
Battle thus continued, in particular at Castel Vecchio, where the cannon had been given over to the inexpert hands of the Veronese citizens and so were not doing any more major damage. Meanwhile, from the colle San Leonardo, the bombardment of the strongholds continued, and the strongholds had turned to bombarding the city, causing several fires and adding to the damage already caused by the French raids: in one short sortie they had started fires in the surrounding palaces of the town's noble families, destroying several works of art. During another sortie, from Castel Vecchio, the French succeeded in setting light to palazzo Liorsi and palazzo Perez, though on their return all but five of the French soldiers were killed by the rioters.
Near the lazzaretto di Sanmicheli, occupied by a French hospital, a column of armed peasants headed towards the city heard a few rifle shots coming from inside the hospital - enraged, the peasants beat down its doors and massacred the six French soldiers they found inside.
In the afternoon Neipperg and his soldiers left Verona, given that the truce between France and Austria was only due to last a week. In compensation he warned the population that if they resisted him while the truce was still in force he would return to help them. Meanwhile a French scouting party approached porta San Zeno, which withdrew immediately when fired on by cannon mounted on the city walls. In the same instant, however, they met the column of soldiers under Maffei which was guarding the Chievo
line at Santa Lucia
. In this line were positioned around 6,000 men under Chabran, while the men under Victor and Miollis
were still marching for Verona.
French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1797
The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1796, with France fighting the First Coalition.On 14 February, British admiral Jervis met and defeated a Spanish fleet off Portugal at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. This prevented the Spanish fleet from rendezvousing with the French, removing a threat...
of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
(the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. They are so-called due to association with the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out on the Easter of 1282 against the rule of the French/Angevin king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks three thousand French men and women were slain by...
. Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.
Context
The Pasque Veronesi were the most important episode in a vast anti-French and anti-JacobinJacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
insurgency movement which arose throughout the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1814 - other important episodes included the campaigns of the Armata della Santa Fede which, guided by cardinal Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican Sanfedismo movement .-Biography:...
, succeeded in reconquering the kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, the actions of the Viva Maria
Viva Maria (movement)
The Viva Maria was one of the anti-French movements, known collectively as the Sanfedisti, which arose in Italy between 1799 and 1800. It operated above all in the town of Arezzo and the rest of Tuscany, but also in the neighboring territories of the Papal States....
band in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, and Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer was a Tirolean innkeeper and patriot. He was the leader of a rebellion against Napoleon's forces....
's victories in the County of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
. The movement's followers were numerous, with sources talking of at least 280,000 insurgents and 70,000 dead.
These revolts were primarily against French domination Jacobin-inspired French political ideology, opposed as such ideology was to prevailing opinions fundamental to Italian society in that period.
Prelude
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, and in effect French troops, initially welcomed on the assumption that their stay would be brief, had reached Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
and Verona by the end of the year : these cities were technically under Venetian domination, and thus the foundations were laid for the events of the following year. The French troops arrived in Verona on 1 June 1796, occupying the military strong-points and billeting troops in other buildings despite the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
already having declared its neutrality.
The relations between the population and the Venetian departments on one side, and the French troops on the other, was difficult from the start, for the French troops behaved more as occupiers than guests. Bergamo, in contrast, resisted the French invasion.
Democratization of Bergamo
Alessandro Ottolini, podestàPodestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
of Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
and a patriot who had raised 10,000 men for the defence of the Bergamasca Nation, at the end of December had to accept general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
thumbLouis Baraguey d'Hilliers was a French Army general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the father of Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, a Marshal of France.-French Revolution:...
's request to billet French troops inside the city, since without soldiers they could not have resisted the French force and since (due to Venetian neutrality) the city could not consent to an attack. The French general, however, did not lower the flags of San Marco, given that this city too was officially under Venetian control.
The next phase of Napoleon's plan assumed that the region's democratisation would lead to the administration passing into the hands of the Jacobin Lombards, who would then create a republic (comprising the territories as far as Verona, or even Padova) allied to France. When secret information of this reached Ottolini, he immediately informed Venice's provveditore
Provveditore
The Italian title provveditore or proveditore , "he who sees to things", was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Venetian dogal republic...
. Francesco Battaia, hesitating to follow up his actions with force, replied that Ottolini should double-check if this information was true. Thanks to a spy, Ottolini quickly confirmed Napoleon's intentions, but still Battaia did nothing.
The work of democratising Bergamao was initiated by François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
, the successor to Baraguay d'Hilliers, but there were too few Jacobin locals. Napoleon reminded the general that the democratisation should appear to be the will of the people - the general, therefore, whilst keeping Ottolini otherwise occupied, summoned representatives of the citizen-body to secede from Venice's rule. These representatives protested but were obliged to assent. Ottolini had in the mentime recalled some military companies from the provinces, and the French used this action as a pretext for occupying the city. Bergamo thus officially became the first city in the Veneto removed from Venice's rule, and Ottolini was forced to give up the city. In the meantime, Napoleon set off to march on Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
via the defiles of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
, ultimately ending up in Leoben
Leoben
Leoben is a Styrian city in central Austria, located by the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
negotiating a treaty with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Democratization of Brescia
The next step would have to be the democratisation of BresciaBrescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
. In this case, despite the town already being partially under French control, the democratisation would have to be conducted (or at least appear to be conducted) by the local Jacobins, given that at Bergamo French involvement in the process had been too obvious. On 16 March, a column of soldiers (partly French, partly local Jacobins) left for Brescia. Its podestà, Giovanni Alvise Mocenigo, wished to attack this hostile column but was stopped from doing so by Battaia, who was still worried about the eventual use of force.
Two days later 200 men entered Brescia and, with the aid of Brescian Jacobins, put down what little resistance was offered. Their first act after gaining the city was to hunt down Battaia, who had fled to Verona. Although lacking the support of the population, with French help the Jacobins succeeded in democratising the countryside and (on 28 March) the town of Crema
Crema, Italy
Crema is a town and comune in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio at 43 km from Cremona. It is also the seat of a Catholic Bishop, who gave to Crema the title of city...
.
The Veronese revolts and campaign
The provveditore Battaia arrived at Verona on 22 March, and immediately called a meeting of the council, which included several other military leaders (the conte Pompei, Ernesto Bevilacqua, Antonio Maffei, Marcantonio Miniscalchi, Ignazio Giusti, Francesco Emilei and Alessandro Ottolini). During the council, Maffei, Ottolini and Emilei tried to convince the other members of the importance of reconquering the territory they had lost and that at that moment this was the most important thing for the defence of the Veronese nation, against the Jacobin members' objections. Battaia urged caution, but conte Emilei noted that passive resistance had already lost them Brescia, and that Verona's citizens were ready to take up arms against the Jacobin Lombards. Battaia, realising that many of those present were of Emilei's opinion, changed his mind and so it was unanimously decided to provide for the defence of Verona's borders, nominally against the local Jacobins but in effect also to prevent Napoleon's own force returning into Italy.Action was immediately taken: Miniscalchi was put in command of the long defence-line at Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
, and Bevilacqua of the line between Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....
and the border with Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, with Maffei positioned between these two lines.
Meanwhile conte Augusto Verità had returned to Verona. Always enjoying good relations with the French, he proposed to get an assurance of French neutrality before the Veronese forces clashed with the Jacobins. Writing to the commander of the French troops at Verona, general Antoine Balland, he stated:
The substance of the letter was a request for authorisation to defend Verona's boundaries against aggressors, which the French general was forced to consent to, since if he did not the only way they could officialise their arrival would be through Venice's authority over her territories. Bonaparte agreed with Balland's decision, and informed the Venetian senate that French troops would not intervene and that he was hurt by how much success they had had at Bergamo and Brescia. Balland's response to the letter aroused Verona's inhabitants to great enthusiasm for defending their own territory.
Initially the military leaders were instructed to defend Verona's borders with practically no men, although the cernide
Cernida
The cernide or cernida were territorial armies of the Veneto and Istria that annually received some military training...
was able to offer 6,000 men, and many volunteers arrived, especially from Valpolicella
Valpolicella
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine...
.
On 23 March news reached Verona that 500 Jacobin soldiers headed for Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda , is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero...
or Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river....
had set out from Brescia - the officials and troops rushed to take up their positions. Miniscalchi went to Colà, a small village above the hills of Lazise
Lazise
Lazise is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Garda...
, Giusti to Povegliano Veronese
Povegliano Veronese
Povegliano Veronese is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 5 km from the Catullo Airport -External links:*...
, Bevilacqua to Cerea
Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum . On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the...
, and Maffei to Valeggio. From Valeggio Maffei could see that the enemy troops were still not in sight, and was thus had time to put his own troops in better order. 24 fanti coming from Brescia also joined his force, as well as 40 Croatian cavalrymen and 2 cannons coming from Verona. On 27 March he decided to send off a scouting party, whilst at Castelnuovo del Garda
Castelnuovo del Garda
Castelnuovo del Garda is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 15 km west of Verona....
1,500 volunteers gathered.
News of the Veronese troop movements arrived at the Bermagascene valleys, where several anti-French revolts were breaking out. On 29 March the whole Bergamascene mountainous zone rose in revolt, in such great numbers that its leaders decided to march on Bergamo.
Around the same time the population of Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
rose up, urged to resistance by Battaia, who assured them by letter that he would send them munitions and 80 dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s. The letter roused the population's enthusiasm, and they succeeded in raising the Leone di San Marco flag and forcing the Jacobins to flee the city. A short time later the inhabitants of Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno is a town and comune on the West coast of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is located c. 40 km from Brescia....
, Tuscolano
Toscolano-Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno is a town and comune on the West coast of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is located c. 40 km from Brescia....
and Teglie
Vobarno
Vobarno is a town and comune of the Province of Brescia in the Italian region of Lombardy, at 246 m above sea-level, with 7,500 inhabitants as of the 2003 census...
also rose up. 1,000 men - Lombard Jacobins, Polish soldiers and French soldiers - that had gathered at Brescia were invited to Salò. These men met the insurgents at Villanuova
Villanuova sul Clisi
Villanuova sul Clisi is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy.As of 2007 Villanuova sul Clisi had an estimated population of 5,627.-Sister city:Villanuova sul Clisi is twinned with: Trébeurden, France, since 2000.*...
, not far from the little town of Garda, but they lacked ammunition and had to quickly retreat into Salò itself. A second encounter saw a victory by the inhabitants of Salò, thanks to an attack on the three sides of the mountain range of the val Sabbia: among the enemy troops, 66 were killed and several taken prisoner, including several Jacobin leaders.
Battaia, as he had promised, sent off 80 dragoons on 30 March. In the meantime Calcinato
Calcinato
Calcinato is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is bounded by other communes of Mazzano, Lonato and Bedizzole....
and Bedizzole
Bedizzole
Bedizzole is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy....
hunted down local Jacobins, clearing the road to Salò for the dragoons, who thus reached Salò after capturing several fleeing Jacobins.
In the meantime a Veronese attack on Desenzano
Desenzano del Garda
Desenzano del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, which borders Lake Garda. It is bordered by other communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Garda and Sirmione.-History:...
failed : news of the uprising in the Bergamascene and Brescian valleys, at Lonato
Lonato
Lonato del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. Lonato is located in the middle of northern Italy, about half way between Milan and Venice, on the south-west shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy.The commune is bordered by those of near Castiglione...
and Salò encouraged the territories of the Venetian Republic, but on the same day came news that the French were attacked the insurgents who had surrounded Bergamo, and the following day that two battles had occurred - one had been won by the French, and the other by the insurgents, with the insurgents nevertheless having to retreat into the mountains and surrender, thus demonstrating the French army had the upper hand.
Maffei had decided to march on Brescia, but was convinced out of it by Battaia, for (according to Battaia) France could use such an action as a pretext for declaring war on Venice. With the support of Iseppo Giovannelli e Alvise Contarini (the Venetian government representatives in the city), Maffei had a clear road down which to advance but had orders to stop 10 miles short of Brescia - the troops would march to the top of the Mincio
Mincio
Mincio is a river in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.Called the Sarca River before entering Lake Garda, it flows from there about 65 km past Mantua into the Po River....
but not advance on the city, with themselves and the insurgents blockading it on 3 sides.
General Charles Edward Kilmaine
Charles Edward Kilmaine
Charles Edward Jennings , commonly known as Brave Kilmaine, was a revolutionary and one of the greatest Irish soldiers to serve France in the eighteenth century. A gallant and celebrated general, philanthropist and baron, he was committed both to the cause of Irish independence and to that of the...
(Irish in origin, but then serving in the French army) gathered 7,000 men at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and left for Brescia, along the way attacking the rebelling villages and forcing them to fund his expedition. Meanwhile at Brescia general Landrieux threatened Maffei with a bombardment of Verona if he did not leave the field and so, after two short clashes between French and Venetian troops on 8 and 9 April, Maffei decided to retreat towards Verona.
The final days before the revolt
Napoleon (then marching towards Austria) was convinced that the last forces of the Venetian Republic had concentrated in the stronghold at Verona. In effect, although the recent events showed that Venice had taken the initiative taken back from the French, Venice continued to proclaim its neutrality. Bonaparte sent a spy to Verona, Angelo Pico, who rendezvoused with about 300 Jacobins there, to put a conspiracy into effect. This, however, was uncovered by the secret police, and on 11 April some patrols (uniquely taking action in broad daylight) arrested them in the street and at home, even if Pico and other leaders of the plot succeeded in evading capture by taking refuge in Verona's fortifications (then in French hands). Giovanelli went to protest deeply, but was not even given a reply, and the French commander Balland supplied ammunition and ordered the town's castelli to be fortified. Contarini, worried, sent off an urgent letter to the Senate and to the Doge.In the meantime came news of the French's suppression of the rebellions at Lonato
Lonato
Lonato del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. Lonato is located in the middle of northern Italy, about half way between Milan and Venice, on the south-west shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy.The commune is bordered by those of near Castiglione...
and Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
.
Contarini and Giovanelli on 6 April sent Nogarola to the defence of Verona's eastern borders, near Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala is a comune of c. 10,000 inhabitants in the Province of Verona in the Italian region of Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona....
, to protect them from attack from behind. On 15 April the stronghold of Peschiera del Garda, in Veronese territory, formally became a French possession. In the meanwhile 400 Poles marched towards Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, the French artillery moved to lake Garda, enemy movements were sighted near Cerea
Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum . On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the...
where Bevilacqua was positioned, and on the road for Vicenza was posted Giambattista Allegri.
French troops were welcomed into Castelnuovo, since neutrality was still technically in force. When, however, some Venetian troops went into church, leaving their weapons outside, the French requisitioned these weapons, thus once again breaching the neutrality. It was then that Maffei received the order to leave the Mincio, given the considerable risk of being picked off from behind.
After ten months of French occupation the situation had now also reached a critical point within the town: the French soldiers often confiscated the citizens' assets and plotted with the local Jacobins to replace the local government.
17 April
During the night between 16 and 17 April 1797, a manifesto was pinned up in the town's streets, apparently signed by Francesco Battaia and inciting Verona to rebel against the French and local collaborators with them. The manifesto was actually the work of Salvadori, on Landrieux's instructions, in order to supply a pretext for the French to definitively occupy the town.The forgery could easily have been unmasked - the manifesto had already been published in March in some newspapers, like the Termometro Politico and the Monitore Bolognese, and Battaia was at that time in Venice not Verona. The Venetian representatives had all copies taken down, and replaced them with a new manifesto denying the former one and urging the population to remain calm, but now the revolt had already been primed, and in the afternoon diverse brawls were already breaking out.
The French soldiers for their part tried to provoke the crowd, around 2 PM arresting a Venetian artilleryman, while at the same time a brawl broke out in a tavern in via Cappello between a Frenchman and a Croatian. The Frenchman came off worse and fled back to his own patrol, which protested loudly. It was then that the people took up arms en masse, and in the turmoil between the people and the soldiers came a rifle shot left which put the French to flight. Shortly after another brawl exploded in a tavern on Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe is a square in Verona, northern Italy. Once it was the town's forum during the time of the Roman Empire.-Description:The northern side of the square is occupied by the ancient town hall, the Torre dei Lamberti, the Casa dei Giudici and the Mazzanti Houses...
, while some people who had previously been kept in check by officers of the Venetian army attacked the guards to the Ponte Pietra
Ponte di Pietra
The Ponte Pietra , once known as the Pons Marmoreus, is a Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River in Verona, Italy...
and Ponte Nuovo
Ponte Nuovo
Ponte Nuovo is a of the of Deruta in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. It stands at an elevation of 176 metres above sea level. At the time of the Istat census of 2001 it had 589 inhabitants....
. The French commanders then directed troops into the town, and stationed 600 men in piazza Bra
Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings...
to monitor the situation.
The townspeople were calming down when, around 5 pm, on the orders of general Balland, the cannons of castel San Felice (the French headquarters) and Castel San Pietro opened fire, and numerous shots landed in piazza dei Signori. This French action was caused by the commanders' safety and ability to monitor the revolt easily, feeling it would be a useful pretext to occupy the town officially. Verona's citizens were at that moment entering the church, and were overcome with anger.
The first episode of the uprising occurred in Piazza d'Armi
Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings...
, where 600 French soldiers were stationed near the hospital (today the site of palazzo Barbieri), whilst Venetian soldiers found themselves near the Liston (around 500) and under the Gran Guardia. Hearing the first shots of the French cannon, the French troops took up arms and set off quickly towards Castelvecchio
Castelvecchio (Verona)
Castelvecchio is a castle in Verona, northern Italy. It is the most important military construction of the Scaliger dynasty that ruled the city in the Middle Ages....
, whilst the Venetian troops were dismayed, not knowing what they were allowed to do after their commanders' had reminded them for months of the importance of Venetian neutrality. Meanwhile, the Veronese began firing from neighbouring palaces, injuring some soldiers.
The townspeople raged against the French troops who had vanished throughout the town and from their guard-points of the bridges. Numerous soldiers had been killed or captured, while those messengers who were fleeing went to hide in their companions' lodgings and the entrances were barricaded, but the townspeople got into these lodgings and even onto their roofs, even as the bombardment of the town from the surrounding strong points and from castel Vecchio continued.
At this moment Francesco Emilei was encamped near Lugagnano, a few kilometres from Verona, and on hearing of the revolt rapidly marched back to Verona with his troops. On the morning of the 17th the French had doubled their guards on the town gates, but Porta Vescovo was easily captured by Coldogno and (with a little more effort) Nogarola managed to take porta San Giorgio. Emilei took porta San Zeno from outside the city and was able to enter with 2,500 volunteers of the cernide, 600 other troops and 2 cannon, which he divided into 4 corps, posted in different locations in and outside the town: one corps was put outside porta Nuova to block the French escape, and another near bastione dei Riformati.
Armed with rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s, pistols, sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
s, pitchforks and staffs
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff , also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, especially as in use in England during the Early Modern period....
, the townsfolk rushed through the streets, killing, wounding and capturing several Frenchmen. One of the rebellion's first acts was to release several Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
troops from their prisons to join with the rebels.
In the late afternoon Emilei, who had just taken porta Nuova, decided to leave for Veneice to seek help from the Venetian army. In contrast Iseppo Giovannelli and Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini was the 106th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on August 26, 1676 until his death seven and a half years later...
, the Venetian government representatives in the town, thought they could even now turn Verona back to its former Venetian neutrality, and so tried to make a compromise with the French military authorities, interrupting the sound of bells and hoisting a white flag atop torre dei Lamberti
Torre dei Lamberti
The Torre dei Lamberti is 84 m high tower in Verona, northern Italy.The tower was begun in 1172; in May 1403 a lightning struck it, but only in 1448 restoration works were started, lasting until 1464. In the occasion the tower was enlarged: the more recent sections can be recognized today by...
. Balland paused the bombardment (even if battle continued around Castel Vecchio, it having been isolated from the castelli on the hills and was thus unable to gain information on the course of events). Negotiations thus began, which Balland wanted to prolong to give more time for French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations failed and the Venetian governors then sought in vain to calm down the populace. Fearful of how the situation would develop, in the meeting between 17 and 18 April the governors decided to withdraw to Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, and before their departure ordered the troops not to participate in the battle. Hence, on 18 April, Giovannelli and Contarini, according to the plan they had put forward in the meeting, would be directed to Venice, to ask the Senate for help. The order was carried out, at first, by Nogarola, Berettini and Allegri, while Antonio Maria Perez continued military operations. In the meantime the population continued to raid any buildings holding (or believed to hold) French soldiers, systematically killing them, while the streets of the town heard nothing but a continuous scream in every corner of the town of "Viva San Marco!".
18 April
On the 18th, with the governors already set out for VicenzaVicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, Emilei made preparations to get to Venice to contact the Senate, while in Verona Maffei and other military leaders sought to organise the army and the populace, since provveditore Bartolomeo Giuliari alone was unable to bear the gravity of the situation. The French cannon in castello di San Felice and castello di San Pietro opened fire again almost as soon as the truce expired, and quick French sorties (sent out from them with the aim of taking the pressure off Castel Vecchio) were quickly repulsed.
The news of the flight by the two provveditori irritated the populace, who continued to fight in an uncoordinated manner, whilst several peasants and mountain-dwellers arrived from Contado, some of whom were armed. Giuliari ordered the commanders to give weapons to those from Contado who had none, and produce a constitution for a provisional regency, which then put itself in contact with general Balland, stipulating a three hour truce elsewhere even if the battle around Castel Vecchio continued. Meanwhile some citizens succeeded in carrying artillery pieces up onto the colle San Leonardo, higher than both the surrounding hills (colle San Pietro and the Torricelle), and were thus easily able to fire down on the strong points on these hills. Some soldiers were shortly afterwards detached to support the townsfolk on the hill, and to defend the hills themselves.
The principal objective became the capture of Castel Vecchio, to which end the people transported two artillery pieces from bastione di Spagna to porta Borsari
Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD...
and the roof of the teatro Filarmonico, on which wooden scaffolds were installed. Shortly afterwards the people were replaced there by Austrian soldiers, clearly more expert in this field. In the meantime other mortars taken from the enemy were used to besiege the castello, while from Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa is a city and comune in the province of Vicenza, region Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo sul Brenta, Conco, Rosà, Cartigliano and Nove...
conte Augusto Verità arrived at the head of 200 Austrian prisoners. The French trapped in castel Vecchio carried a cannon up to the top of the clock tower and began to bombard porta Borsari
Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD...
, but Augusto Verità responded by bombarding the clock tower with Austrian artillery, succeeding in hitting it, knocking off the cannon and forcing the French to evacuate it. Some of the French on the castle walls were also hit by cannon fire. Shortly before a new assault on the castle a band of French soldiers came out with a white flag as if under truce. Captain Rubbi advanced towards them to negotiate, but the French party then unmasked a cannon and began to fire it, killing Rubbi's soldiers and 30 Veronese. This unleashed all hell around the castello, whilst the timings of the revolt were rung out from torre dei Lamberti
Torre dei Lamberti
The Torre dei Lamberti is 84 m high tower in Verona, northern Italy.The tower was begun in 1172; in May 1403 a lightning struck it, but only in 1448 restoration works were started, lasting until 1464. In the occasion the tower was enlarged: the more recent sections can be recognized today by...
, which the French unsuccessfully tried to demolish with cannon fire.
Many peasant volunteers began arriving from the countryside, armed with pitchforks, bastoni and small-arms. Of their resolution, Alberghini writes that "it appeared on the faces of all the desire to die for the Fatherland and of themselves to risk all. The peasants of Vallagarina
Vallagarina
The Lagarina Valley is a valley in northern Italy, used to define the lower mountain course of the Adige River. It is mostly included in the province of Trentino, with the lower section being part of the province of Verona. The largest town is Rovereto....
succeeded in attacking and capturing the church next to Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese is a comune in Veneto, Italy, in the Province of Verona, on a hill on the right bank of the Adige, 20 km miles NW of Verona.-History:...
, while the mountain-dwellers of Lessinia attacked forte San Felice and castel San Pietro from the north. In the meantime conte Miniscalchi controlled the lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
defence-line, Bevilacqua the line at Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, and Allegri the San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 25 km east of Verona....
line: Verona's borders were thus all guarded and - for the moment - calm.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg
Adam Albert von Neipperg
Adam Albert, Count von Neipperg was an Austrian general and statesman. The son of a diplomat, famous for inventing a letter-copying machine, and a French mother, he was the grandson of Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg....
arrived in the city with a band of soldiers, and informed Balland of the treaty of Leoben
Treaty of Leoben
The Treaty of Leoben was signed on 17 April 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a preliminary accord that contained many secret clauses. From these clauses, Austria would lose the Austrian Netherlands and Lombardy in exchange for the Venetian territories of Istria and Dalmatia...
Bonaparte had negotiated between the French Republic and the Austrian Empire
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, while the population rejoiced, thinking he was bringing aid to Verona: thus the rebels lost their precious support from Austrian troops. Between intermittent truces, Verona was systematically bombarded from the strongholds and its population continued to fight around the strongholds and attempt to capture them.
19 April
On 19 April Bevilacqua was defeated by French troops at LegnagoLegnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, whilst Miniscalchi was blockaded at Bardolino
Bardolino
Bardolino is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 130 km west of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Verona....
, leaving only Maffei outside Verona, at Valeggio
Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river....
, who decided to withdraw to Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna is a comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.In the frazione of Custoza two battles were fought during the Italian Independence Wars.The town's main football team is Associazione Calcio Somma....
with his 900 infantry and 250 cavalry, so as not to be cut off by the French advance guard: arriving at Sommacampagna left his command to Ferro and returned to Verona in search of orders. The same day Emilei arrived back from Venice, without the help they had hoped for, while at Vicenza the two representatives were persuaded by Erizzo to return and resume negotiations with Balland: the general replied that he and his men would have left the town if the population had been disarmed but that, after the episode at Castel Vecchio, he could believe no one, not even the two representatives.
After this useless attempt at mediation, Contarini and Giovannelli organized the people, who shouted "we want war" and were prepared to defend the town to the bitter end, as shown by a proclamation in which they affirmed that "through removing confusion and disorder, fatal to the good of all, the faithful people of Verona remain committed to withdrew into their respective Contrade [districts]. There they will assign leaders, obedient to you, and be united in one body and the same leaders will obey the cariche's orders and always give themselves towards the common good".
Battle thus continued, in particular at Castel Vecchio, where the cannon had been given over to the inexpert hands of the Veronese citizens and so were not doing any more major damage. Meanwhile, from the colle San Leonardo, the bombardment of the strongholds continued, and the strongholds had turned to bombarding the city, causing several fires and adding to the damage already caused by the French raids: in one short sortie they had started fires in the surrounding palaces of the town's noble families, destroying several works of art. During another sortie, from Castel Vecchio, the French succeeded in setting light to palazzo Liorsi and palazzo Perez, though on their return all but five of the French soldiers were killed by the rioters.
Near the lazzaretto di Sanmicheli, occupied by a French hospital, a column of armed peasants headed towards the city heard a few rifle shots coming from inside the hospital - enraged, the peasants beat down its doors and massacred the six French soldiers they found inside.
In the afternoon Neipperg and his soldiers left Verona, given that the truce between France and Austria was only due to last a week. In compensation he warned the population that if they resisted him while the truce was still in force he would return to help them. Meanwhile a French scouting party approached porta San Zeno, which withdrew immediately when fired on by cannon mounted on the city walls. In the same instant, however, they met the column of soldiers under Maffei which was guarding the Chievo
Chievo
Chievo is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around 4km from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C...
line at Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia (Verona)
Santa Lucia was an ancient paesino next to Verona...
. In this line were positioned around 6,000 men under Chabran, while the men under Victor and Miollis
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis was a French military officer serving in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...
were still marching for Verona.
20 and 21 April
The Veronese Easters (Italian - Pasque Veronesi) were a rebellion during the Italian campaignFrench Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1797
The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1796, with France fighting the First Coalition.On 14 February, British admiral Jervis met and defeated a Spanish fleet off Portugal at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. This prevented the Spanish fleet from rendezvousing with the French, removing a threat...
of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
(the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. They are so-called due to association with the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out on the Easter of 1282 against the rule of the French/Angevin king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks three thousand French men and women were slain by...
. Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.
Context
The Pasque Veronesi were the most important episode in a vast anti-French and anti-JacobinJacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
insurgency movement which arose throughout the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1814 - other important episodes included the campaigns of the Armata della Santa Fede which, guided by cardinal Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican Sanfedismo movement .-Biography:...
, succeeded in reconquering the kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, the actions of the Viva Maria
Viva Maria (movement)
The Viva Maria was one of the anti-French movements, known collectively as the Sanfedisti, which arose in Italy between 1799 and 1800. It operated above all in the town of Arezzo and the rest of Tuscany, but also in the neighboring territories of the Papal States....
band in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, and Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer was a Tirolean innkeeper and patriot. He was the leader of a rebellion against Napoleon's forces....
's victories in the County of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
. The movement's followers were numerous, with sources talking of at least 280,000 insurgents and 70,000 dead.
These revolts were primarily against French domination Jacobin-inspired French political ideology, opposed as such ideology was to prevailing opinions fundamental to Italian society in that period.
Prelude
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, and in effect French troops, initially welcomed on the assumption that their stay would be brief, had reached Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
and Verona by the end of the year : these cities were technically under Venetian domination, and thus the foundations were laid for the events of the following year. The French troops arrived in Verona on 1 June 1796, occupying the military strong-points and billeting troops in other buildings despite the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
already having declared its neutrality.
The relations between the population and the Venetian departments on one side, and the French troops on the other, was difficult from the start, for the French troops behaved more as occupiers than guests. Bergamo, in contrast, resisted the French invasion.
Democratization of Bergamo
Alessandro Ottolini, podestàPodestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
of Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
and a patriot who had raised 10,000 men for the defence of the Bergamasca Nation, at the end of December had to accept general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
thumbLouis Baraguey d'Hilliers was a French Army general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the father of Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, a Marshal of France.-French Revolution:...
's request to billet French troops inside the city, since without soldiers they could not have resisted the French force and since (due to Venetian neutrality) the city could not consent to an attack. The French general, however, did not lower the flags of San Marco, given that this city too was officially under Venetian control.
The next phase of Napoleon's plan assumed that the region's democratisation would lead to the administration passing into the hands of the Jacobin Lombards, who would then create a republic (comprising the territories as far as Verona, or even Padova) allied to France. When secret information of this reached Ottolini, he immediately informed Venice's provveditore
Provveditore
The Italian title provveditore or proveditore , "he who sees to things", was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Venetian dogal republic...
. Francesco Battaia, hesitating to follow up his actions with force, replied that Ottolini should double-check if this information was true. Thanks to a spy, Ottolini quickly confirmed Napoleon's intentions, but still Battaia did nothing.
The work of democratising Bergamao was initiated by François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
, the successor to Baraguay d'Hilliers, but there were too few Jacobin locals. Napoleon reminded the general that the democratisation should appear to be the will of the people - the general, therefore, whilst keeping Ottolini otherwise occupied, summoned representatives of the citizen-body to secede from Venice's rule. These representatives protested but were obliged to assent. Ottolini had in the mentime recalled some military companies from the provinces, and the French used this action as a pretext for occupying the city. Bergamo thus officially became the first city in the Veneto removed from Venice's rule, and Ottolini was forced to give up the city. In the meantime, Napoleon set off to march on Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
via the defiles of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
, ultimately ending up in Leoben
Leoben
Leoben is a Styrian city in central Austria, located by the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
negotiating a treaty with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Democratization of Brescia
The next step would have to be the democratisation of BresciaBrescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
. In this case, despite the town already being partially under French control, the democratisation would have to be conducted (or at least appear to be conducted) by the local Jacobins, given that at Bergamo French involvement in the process had been too obvious. On 16 March, a column of soldiers (partly French, partly local Jacobins) left for Brescia. Its podestà, Giovanni Alvise Mocenigo, wished to attack this hostile column but was stopped from doing so by Battaia, who was still worried about the eventual use of force.
Two days later 200 men entered Brescia and, with the aid of Brescian Jacobins, put down what little resistance was offered. Their first act after gaining the city was to hunt down Battaia, who had fled to Verona. Although lacking the support of the population, with French help the Jacobins succeeded in democratising the countryside and (on 28 March) the town of Crema
Crema, Italy
Crema is a town and comune in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio at 43 km from Cremona. It is also the seat of a Catholic Bishop, who gave to Crema the title of city...
.
The Veronese revolts and campaign
The provveditore Battaia arrived at Verona on 22 March, and immediately called a meeting of the council, which included several other military leaders (the conte Pompei, Ernesto Bevilacqua, Antonio Maffei, Marcantonio Miniscalchi, Ignazio Giusti, Francesco Emilei and Alessandro Ottolini). During the council, Maffei, Ottolini and Emilei tried to convince the other members of the importance of reconquering the territory they had lost and that at that moment this was the most important thing for the defence of the Veronese nation, against the Jacobin members' objections. Battaia urged caution, but conte Emilei noted that passive resistance had already lost them Brescia, and that Verona's citizens were ready to take up arms against the Jacobin Lombards. Battaia, realising that many of those present were of Emilei's opinion, changed his mind and so it was unanimously decided to provide for the defence of Verona's borders, nominally against the local Jacobins but in effect also to prevent Napoleon's own force returning into Italy.Action was immediately taken: Miniscalchi was put in command of the long defence-line at Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
, and Bevilacqua of the line between Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....
and the border with Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, with Maffei positioned between these two lines.
Meanwhile conte Augusto Verità had returned to Verona. Always enjoying good relations with the French, he proposed to get an assurance of French neutrality before the Veronese forces clashed with the Jacobins. Writing to the commander of the French troops at Verona, general Antoine Balland, he stated:
The substance of the letter was a request for authorisation to defend Verona's boundaries against aggressors, which the French general was forced to consent to, since if he did not the only way they could officialise their arrival would be through Venice's authority over her territories. Bonaparte agreed with Balland's decision, and informed the Venetian senate that French troops would not intervene and that he was hurt by how much success they had had at Bergamo and Brescia. Balland's response to the letter aroused Verona's inhabitants to great enthusiasm for defending their own territory.
Initially the military leaders were instructed to defend Verona's borders with practically no men, although the cernide
Cernida
The cernide or cernida were territorial armies of the Veneto and Istria that annually received some military training...
was able to offer 6,000 men, and many volunteers arrived, especially from Valpolicella
Valpolicella
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine...
.
On 23 March news reached Verona that 500 Jacobin soldiers headed for Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda , is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero...
or Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river....
had set out from Brescia - the officials and troops rushed to take up their positions. Miniscalchi went to Colà, a small village above the hills of Lazise
Lazise
Lazise is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Garda...
, Giusti to Povegliano Veronese
Povegliano Veronese
Povegliano Veronese is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 5 km from the Catullo Airport -External links:*...
, Bevilacqua to Cerea
Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum . On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the...
, and Maffei to Valeggio. From Valeggio Maffei could see that the enemy troops were still not in sight, and was thus had time to put his own troops in better order. 24 fanti coming from Brescia also joined his force, as well as 40 Croatian cavalrymen and 2 cannons coming from Verona. On 27 March he decided to send off a scouting party, whilst at Castelnuovo del Garda
Castelnuovo del Garda
Castelnuovo del Garda is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 15 km west of Verona....
1,500 volunteers gathered.
News of the Veronese troop movements arrived at the Bermagascene valleys, where several anti-French revolts were breaking out. On 29 March the whole Bergamascene mountainous zone rose in revolt, in such great numbers that its leaders decided to march on Bergamo.
Around the same time the population of Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
rose up, urged to resistance by Battaia, who assured them by letter that he would send them munitions and 80 dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s. The letter roused the population's enthusiasm, and they succeeded in raising the Leone di San Marco flag and forcing the Jacobins to flee the city. A short time later the inhabitants of Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno is a town and comune on the West coast of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is located c. 40 km from Brescia....
, Tuscolano
Toscolano-Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno is a town and comune on the West coast of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is located c. 40 km from Brescia....
and Teglie
Vobarno
Vobarno is a town and comune of the Province of Brescia in the Italian region of Lombardy, at 246 m above sea-level, with 7,500 inhabitants as of the 2003 census...
also rose up. 1,000 men - Lombard Jacobins, Polish soldiers and French soldiers - that had gathered at Brescia were invited to Salò. These men met the insurgents at Villanuova
Villanuova sul Clisi
Villanuova sul Clisi is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy.As of 2007 Villanuova sul Clisi had an estimated population of 5,627.-Sister city:Villanuova sul Clisi is twinned with: Trébeurden, France, since 2000.*...
, not far from the little town of Garda, but they lacked ammunition and had to quickly retreat into Salò itself. A second encounter saw a victory by the inhabitants of Salò, thanks to an attack on the three sides of the mountain range of the val Sabbia: among the enemy troops, 66 were killed and several taken prisoner, including several Jacobin leaders.
Battaia, as he had promised, sent off 80 dragoons on 30 March. In the meantime Calcinato
Calcinato
Calcinato is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is bounded by other communes of Mazzano, Lonato and Bedizzole....
and Bedizzole
Bedizzole
Bedizzole is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy....
hunted down local Jacobins, clearing the road to Salò for the dragoons, who thus reached Salò after capturing several fleeing Jacobins.
In the meantime a Veronese attack on Desenzano
Desenzano del Garda
Desenzano del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, which borders Lake Garda. It is bordered by other communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Garda and Sirmione.-History:...
failed : news of the uprising in the Bergamascene and Brescian valleys, at Lonato
Lonato
Lonato del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. Lonato is located in the middle of northern Italy, about half way between Milan and Venice, on the south-west shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy.The commune is bordered by those of near Castiglione...
and Salò encouraged the territories of the Venetian Republic, but on the same day came news that the French were attacked the insurgents who had surrounded Bergamo, and the following day that two battles had occurred - one had been won by the French, and the other by the insurgents, with the insurgents nevertheless having to retreat into the mountains and surrender, thus demonstrating the French army had the upper hand.
Maffei had decided to march on Brescia, but was convinced out of it by Battaia, for (according to Battaia) France could use such an action as a pretext for declaring war on Venice. With the support of Iseppo Giovannelli e Alvise Contarini (the Venetian government representatives in the city), Maffei had a clear road down which to advance but had orders to stop 10 miles short of Brescia - the troops would march to the top of the Mincio
Mincio
Mincio is a river in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.Called the Sarca River before entering Lake Garda, it flows from there about 65 km past Mantua into the Po River....
but not advance on the city, with themselves and the insurgents blockading it on 3 sides.
General Charles Edward Kilmaine
Charles Edward Kilmaine
Charles Edward Jennings , commonly known as Brave Kilmaine, was a revolutionary and one of the greatest Irish soldiers to serve France in the eighteenth century. A gallant and celebrated general, philanthropist and baron, he was committed both to the cause of Irish independence and to that of the...
(Irish in origin, but then serving in the French army) gathered 7,000 men at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and left for Brescia, along the way attacking the rebelling villages and forcing them to fund his expedition. Meanwhile at Brescia general Landrieux threatened Maffei with a bombardment of Verona if he did not leave the field and so, after two short clashes between French and Venetian troops on 8 and 9 April, Maffei decided to retreat towards Verona.
The final days before the revolt
Napoleon (then marching towards Austria) was convinced that the last forces of the Venetian Republic had concentrated in the stronghold at Verona. In effect, although the recent events showed that Venice had taken the initiative taken back from the French, Venice continued to proclaim its neutrality. Bonaparte sent a spy to Verona, Angelo Pico, who rendezvoused with about 300 Jacobins there, to put a conspiracy into effect. This, however, was uncovered by the secret police, and on 11 April some patrols (uniquely taking action in broad daylight) arrested them in the street and at home, even if Pico and other leaders of the plot succeeded in evading capture by taking refuge in Verona's fortifications (then in French hands). Giovanelli went to protest deeply, but was not even given a reply, and the French commander Balland supplied ammunition and ordered the town's castelli to be fortified. Contarini, worried, sent off an urgent letter to the Senate and to the Doge.In the meantime came news of the French's suppression of the rebellions at Lonato
Lonato
Lonato del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. Lonato is located in the middle of northern Italy, about half way between Milan and Venice, on the south-west shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy.The commune is bordered by those of near Castiglione...
and Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
.
Contarini and Giovanelli on 6 April sent Nogarola to the defence of Verona's eastern borders, near Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala is a comune of c. 10,000 inhabitants in the Province of Verona in the Italian region of Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona....
, to protect them from attack from behind. On 15 April the stronghold of Peschiera del Garda, in Veronese territory, formally became a French possession. In the meanwhile 400 Poles marched towards Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, the French artillery moved to lake Garda, enemy movements were sighted near Cerea
Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum . On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the...
where Bevilacqua was positioned, and on the road for Vicenza was posted Giambattista Allegri.
French troops were welcomed into Castelnuovo, since neutrality was still technically in force. When, however, some Venetian troops went into church, leaving their weapons outside, the French requisitioned these weapons, thus once again breaching the neutrality. It was then that Maffei received the order to leave the Mincio, given the considerable risk of being picked off from behind.
After ten months of French occupation the situation had now also reached a critical point within the town: the French soldiers often confiscated the citizens' assets and plotted with the local Jacobins to replace the local government.
17 April
During the night between 16 and 17 April 1797, a manifesto was pinned up in the town's streets, apparently signed by Francesco Battaia and inciting Verona to rebel against the French and local collaborators with them. The manifesto was actually the work of Salvadori, on Landrieux's instructions, in order to supply a pretext for the French to definitively occupy the town.The forgery could easily have been unmasked - the manifesto had already been published in March in some newspapers, like the Termometro Politico and the Monitore Bolognese, and Battaia was at that time in Venice not Verona. The Venetian representatives had all copies taken down, and replaced them with a new manifesto denying the former one and urging the population to remain calm, but now the revolt had already been primed, and in the afternoon diverse brawls were already breaking out.
The French soldiers for their part tried to provoke the crowd, around 2 PM arresting a Venetian artilleryman, while at the same time a brawl broke out in a tavern in via Cappello between a Frenchman and a Croatian. The Frenchman came off worse and fled back to his own patrol, which protested loudly. It was then that the people took up arms en masse, and in the turmoil between the people and the soldiers came a rifle shot left which put the French to flight. Shortly after another brawl exploded in a tavern on Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe is a square in Verona, northern Italy. Once it was the town's forum during the time of the Roman Empire.-Description:The northern side of the square is occupied by the ancient town hall, the Torre dei Lamberti, the Casa dei Giudici and the Mazzanti Houses...
, while some people who had previously been kept in check by officers of the Venetian army attacked the guards to the Ponte Pietra
Ponte di Pietra
The Ponte Pietra , once known as the Pons Marmoreus, is a Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River in Verona, Italy...
and Ponte Nuovo
Ponte Nuovo
Ponte Nuovo is a of the of Deruta in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. It stands at an elevation of 176 metres above sea level. At the time of the Istat census of 2001 it had 589 inhabitants....
. The French commanders then directed troops into the town, and stationed 600 men in piazza Bra
Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings...
to monitor the situation.
The townspeople were calming down when, around 5 pm, on the orders of general Balland, the cannons of castel San Felice (the French headquarters) and Castel San Pietro opened fire, and numerous shots landed in piazza dei Signori. This French action was caused by the commanders' safety and ability to monitor the revolt easily, feeling it would be a useful pretext to occupy the town officially. Verona's citizens were at that moment entering the church, and were overcome with anger.
The first episode of the uprising occurred in Piazza d'Armi
Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings...
, where 600 French soldiers were stationed near the hospital (today the site of palazzo Barbieri), whilst Venetian soldiers found themselves near the Liston (around 500) and under the Gran Guardia. Hearing the first shots of the French cannon, the French troops took up arms and set off quickly towards Castelvecchio
Castelvecchio (Verona)
Castelvecchio is a castle in Verona, northern Italy. It is the most important military construction of the Scaliger dynasty that ruled the city in the Middle Ages....
, whilst the Venetian troops were dismayed, not knowing what they were allowed to do after their commanders' had reminded them for months of the importance of Venetian neutrality. Meanwhile, the Veronese began firing from neighbouring palaces, injuring some soldiers.
The townspeople raged against the French troops who had vanished throughout the town and from their guard-points of the bridges. Numerous soldiers had been killed or captured, while those messengers who were fleeing went to hide in their companions' lodgings and the entrances were barricaded, but the townspeople got into these lodgings and even onto their roofs, even as the bombardment of the town from the surrounding strong points and from castel Vecchio continued.
At this moment Francesco Emilei was encamped near Lugagnano, a few kilometres from Verona, and on hearing of the revolt rapidly marched back to Verona with his troops. On the morning of the 17th the French had doubled their guards on the town gates, but Porta Vescovo was easily captured by Coldogno and (with a little more effort) Nogarola managed to take porta San Giorgio. Emilei took porta San Zeno from outside the city and was able to enter with 2,500 volunteers of the cernide, 600 other troops and 2 cannon, which he divided into 4 corps, posted in different locations in and outside the town: one corps was put outside porta Nuova to block the French escape, and another near bastione dei Riformati.
Armed with rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s, pistols, sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
s, pitchforks and staffs
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff , also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, especially as in use in England during the Early Modern period....
, the townsfolk rushed through the streets, killing, wounding and capturing several Frenchmen. One of the rebellion's first acts was to release several Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
troops from their prisons to join with the rebels.
In the late afternoon Emilei, who had just taken porta Nuova, decided to leave for Veneice to seek help from the Venetian army. In contrast Iseppo Giovannelli and Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini was the 106th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on August 26, 1676 until his death seven and a half years later...
, the Venetian government representatives in the town, thought they could even now turn Verona back to its former Venetian neutrality, and so tried to make a compromise with the French military authorities, interrupting the sound of bells and hoisting a white flag atop torre dei Lamberti
Torre dei Lamberti
The Torre dei Lamberti is 84 m high tower in Verona, northern Italy.The tower was begun in 1172; in May 1403 a lightning struck it, but only in 1448 restoration works were started, lasting until 1464. In the occasion the tower was enlarged: the more recent sections can be recognized today by...
. Balland paused the bombardment (even if battle continued around Castel Vecchio, it having been isolated from the castelli on the hills and was thus unable to gain information on the course of events). Negotiations thus began, which Balland wanted to prolong to give more time for French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations failed and the Venetian governors then sought in vain to calm down the populace. Fearful of how the situation would develop, in the meeting between 17 and 18 April the governors decided to withdraw to Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, and before their departure ordered the troops not to participate in the battle. Hence, on 18 April, Giovannelli and Contarini, according to the plan they had put forward in the meeting, would be directed to Venice, to ask the Senate for help. The order was carried out, at first, by Nogarola, Berettini and Allegri, while Antonio Maria Perez continued military operations. In the meantime the population continued to raid any buildings holding (or believed to hold) French soldiers, systematically killing them, while the streets of the town heard nothing but a continuous scream in every corner of the town of "Viva San Marco!".
18 April
On the 18th, with the governors already set out for VicenzaVicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, Emilei made preparations to get to Venice to contact the Senate, while in Verona Maffei and other military leaders sought to organise the army and the populace, since provveditore Bartolomeo Giuliari alone was unable to bear the gravity of the situation. The French cannon in castello di San Felice and castello di San Pietro opened fire again almost as soon as the truce expired, and quick French sorties (sent out from them with the aim of taking the pressure off Castel Vecchio) were quickly repulsed.
The news of the flight by the two provveditori irritated the populace, who continued to fight in an uncoordinated manner, whilst several peasants and mountain-dwellers arrived from Contado, some of whom were armed. Giuliari ordered the commanders to give weapons to those from Contado who had none, and produce a constitution for a provisional regency, which then put itself in contact with general Balland, stipulating a three hour truce elsewhere even if the battle around Castel Vecchio continued. Meanwhile some citizens succeeded in carrying artillery pieces up onto the colle San Leonardo, higher than both the surrounding hills (colle San Pietro and the Torricelle), and were thus easily able to fire down on the strong points on these hills. Some soldiers were shortly afterwards detached to support the townsfolk on the hill, and to defend the hills themselves.
The principal objective became the capture of Castel Vecchio, to which end the people transported two artillery pieces from bastione di Spagna to porta Borsari
Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD...
and the roof of the teatro Filarmonico, on which wooden scaffolds were installed. Shortly afterwards the people were replaced there by Austrian soldiers, clearly more expert in this field. In the meantime other mortars taken from the enemy were used to besiege the castello, while from Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa is a city and comune in the province of Vicenza, region Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo sul Brenta, Conco, Rosà, Cartigliano and Nove...
conte Augusto Verità arrived at the head of 200 Austrian prisoners. The French trapped in castel Vecchio carried a cannon up to the top of the clock tower and began to bombard porta Borsari
Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD...
, but Augusto Verità responded by bombarding the clock tower with Austrian artillery, succeeding in hitting it, knocking off the cannon and forcing the French to evacuate it. Some of the French on the castle walls were also hit by cannon fire. Shortly before a new assault on the castle a band of French soldiers came out with a white flag as if under truce. Captain Rubbi advanced towards them to negotiate, but the French party then unmasked a cannon and began to fire it, killing Rubbi's soldiers and 30 Veronese. This unleashed all hell around the castello, whilst the timings of the revolt were rung out from torre dei Lamberti
Torre dei Lamberti
The Torre dei Lamberti is 84 m high tower in Verona, northern Italy.The tower was begun in 1172; in May 1403 a lightning struck it, but only in 1448 restoration works were started, lasting until 1464. In the occasion the tower was enlarged: the more recent sections can be recognized today by...
, which the French unsuccessfully tried to demolish with cannon fire.
Many peasant volunteers began arriving from the countryside, armed with pitchforks, bastoni and small-arms. Of their resolution, Alberghini writes that "it appeared on the faces of all the desire to die for the Fatherland and of themselves to risk all. The peasants of Vallagarina
Vallagarina
The Lagarina Valley is a valley in northern Italy, used to define the lower mountain course of the Adige River. It is mostly included in the province of Trentino, with the lower section being part of the province of Verona. The largest town is Rovereto....
succeeded in attacking and capturing the church next to Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese is a comune in Veneto, Italy, in the Province of Verona, on a hill on the right bank of the Adige, 20 km miles NW of Verona.-History:...
, while the mountain-dwellers of Lessinia attacked forte San Felice and castel San Pietro from the north. In the meantime conte Miniscalchi controlled the lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
defence-line, Bevilacqua the line at Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, and Allegri the San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 25 km east of Verona....
line: Verona's borders were thus all guarded and - for the moment - calm.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg
Adam Albert von Neipperg
Adam Albert, Count von Neipperg was an Austrian general and statesman. The son of a diplomat, famous for inventing a letter-copying machine, and a French mother, he was the grandson of Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg....
arrived in the city with a band of soldiers, and informed Balland of the treaty of Leoben
Treaty of Leoben
The Treaty of Leoben was signed on 17 April 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a preliminary accord that contained many secret clauses. From these clauses, Austria would lose the Austrian Netherlands and Lombardy in exchange for the Venetian territories of Istria and Dalmatia...
Bonaparte had negotiated between the French Republic and the Austrian Empire
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, while the population rejoiced, thinking he was bringing aid to Verona: thus the rebels lost their precious support from Austrian troops. Between intermittent truces, Verona was systematically bombarded from the strongholds and its population continued to fight around the strongholds and attempt to capture them.
19 April
On 19 April Bevilacqua was defeated by French troops at LegnagoLegnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, whilst Miniscalchi was blockaded at Bardolino
Bardolino
Bardolino is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 130 km west of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Verona....
, leaving only Maffei outside Verona, at Valeggio
Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river....
, who decided to withdraw to Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna is a comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.In the frazione of Custoza two battles were fought during the Italian Independence Wars.The town's main football team is Associazione Calcio Somma....
with his 900 infantry and 250 cavalry, so as not to be cut off by the French advance guard: arriving at Sommacampagna left his command to Ferro and returned to Verona in search of orders. The same day Emilei arrived back from Venice, without the help they had hoped for, while at Vicenza the two representatives were persuaded by Erizzo to return and resume negotiations with Balland: the general replied that he and his men would have left the town if the population had been disarmed but that, after the episode at Castel Vecchio, he could believe no one, not even the two representatives.
After this useless attempt at mediation, Contarini and Giovannelli organized the people, who shouted "we want war" and were prepared to defend the town to the bitter end, as shown by a proclamation in which they affirmed that "through removing confusion and disorder, fatal to the good of all, the faithful people of Verona remain committed to withdrew into their respective Contrade [districts]. There they will assign leaders, obedient to you, and be united in one body and the same leaders will obey the cariche's orders and always give themselves towards the common good".
Battle thus continued, in particular at Castel Vecchio, where the cannon had been given over to the inexpert hands of the Veronese citizens and so were not doing any more major damage. Meanwhile, from the colle San Leonardo, the bombardment of the strongholds continued, and the strongholds had turned to bombarding the city, causing several fires and adding to the damage already caused by the French raids: in one short sortie they had started fires in the surrounding palaces of the town's noble families, destroying several works of art. During another sortie, from Castel Vecchio, the French succeeded in setting light to palazzo Liorsi and palazzo Perez, though on their return all but five of the French soldiers were killed by the rioters.
Near the lazzaretto di Sanmicheli, occupied by a French hospital, a column of armed peasants headed towards the city heard a few rifle shots coming from inside the hospital - enraged, the peasants beat down its doors and massacred the six French soldiers they found inside.
In the afternoon Neipperg and his soldiers left Verona, given that the truce between France and Austria was only due to last a week. In compensation he warned the population that if they resisted him while the truce was still in force he would return to help them. Meanwhile a French scouting party approached porta San Zeno, which withdrew immediately when fired on by cannon mounted on the city walls. In the same instant, however, they met the column of soldiers under Maffei which was guarding the Chievo
Chievo
Chievo is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around 4km from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C...
line at Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia (Verona)
Santa Lucia was an ancient paesino next to Verona...
. In this line were positioned around 6,000 men under Chabran, while the men under Victor and Miollis
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis was a French military officer serving in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...
were still marching for Verona.
20 and 21 April
The Veronese Easters (Italian - Pasque Veronesi) were a rebellion during the Italian campaignFrench Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1797
The French Revolutionary Wars continued from 1796, with France fighting the First Coalition.On 14 February, British admiral Jervis met and defeated a Spanish fleet off Portugal at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. This prevented the Spanish fleet from rendezvousing with the French, removing a threat...
of 1797, in which inhabitants of Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and the surrounding areas revolted against the French occupying forces under Antoine Balland, whilst Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
(the French supreme commander in the Italian campaign) was fighting in Austria. They are so-called due to association with the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to the successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out on the Easter of 1282 against the rule of the French/Angevin king Charles I, who had ruled the Kingdom of Sicily since 1266. Within six weeks three thousand French men and women were slain by...
. Incited by oppressive behaviour by the French (confiscating the assets of Verona's citizens and plotting to overthrow the city's local government), it began on the morning of 17 April 1797, the second day of Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
: the enraged population succeeded in defeating more than a thousand French soldiers in the first hour of fighting, forcing them to take refuge in the town's fortifications, which the mob then captured by force. The revolt ended on 25 April 1797 with the encirclement and capture of the town by 15,000 soldiers, who then forced it to pay a huge fine and hand over various assets, including artwork.
Context
The Pasque Veronesi were the most important episode in a vast anti-French and anti-JacobinJacobin (politics)
A Jacobin , in the context of the French Revolution, was a member of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary far-left political movement. The Jacobin Club was the most famous political club of the French Revolution. So called from the Dominican convent where they originally met, in the Rue St. Jacques ,...
insurgency movement which arose throughout the Italian peninsula from 1796 to 1814 - other important episodes included the campaigns of the Armata della Santa Fede which, guided by cardinal Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo
Fabrizio Ruffo was an Italian cardinal and politician, who led the popular anti-republican Sanfedismo movement .-Biography:...
, succeeded in reconquering the kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
, the actions of the Viva Maria
Viva Maria (movement)
The Viva Maria was one of the anti-French movements, known collectively as the Sanfedisti, which arose in Italy between 1799 and 1800. It operated above all in the town of Arezzo and the rest of Tuscany, but also in the neighboring territories of the Papal States....
band in Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
and Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, and Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer was a Tirolean innkeeper and patriot. He was the leader of a rebellion against Napoleon's forces....
's victories in the County of Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
. The movement's followers were numerous, with sources talking of at least 280,000 insurgents and 70,000 dead.
These revolts were primarily against French domination Jacobin-inspired French political ideology, opposed as such ideology was to prevailing opinions fundamental to Italian society in that period.
Prelude
Veneto
Veneto is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about 5 million, ranking 5th in Italy.Veneto had been for more than a millennium an independent state, the Republic of Venice, until it was eventually annexed by Italy in 1866 after brief Austrian and French rule...
Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, and in effect French troops, initially welcomed on the assumption that their stay would be brief, had reached Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
and Verona by the end of the year : these cities were technically under Venetian domination, and thus the foundations were laid for the events of the following year. The French troops arrived in Verona on 1 June 1796, occupying the military strong-points and billeting troops in other buildings despite the Republic of Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
already having declared its neutrality.
The relations between the population and the Venetian departments on one side, and the French troops on the other, was difficult from the start, for the French troops behaved more as occupiers than guests. Bergamo, in contrast, resisted the French invasion.
Democratization of Bergamo
Alessandro Ottolini, podestàPodestà
Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later Middle Ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state , but also as a local administrator, the representative of the Emperor.The term derives from the Latin word potestas, meaning power...
of Bergamo
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
and a patriot who had raised 10,000 men for the defence of the Bergamasca Nation, at the end of December had to accept general Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
thumbLouis Baraguey d'Hilliers was a French Army general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was the father of Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, a Marshal of France.-French Revolution:...
's request to billet French troops inside the city, since without soldiers they could not have resisted the French force and since (due to Venetian neutrality) the city could not consent to an attack. The French general, however, did not lower the flags of San Marco, given that this city too was officially under Venetian control.
The next phase of Napoleon's plan assumed that the region's democratisation would lead to the administration passing into the hands of the Jacobin Lombards, who would then create a republic (comprising the territories as far as Verona, or even Padova) allied to France. When secret information of this reached Ottolini, he immediately informed Venice's provveditore
Provveditore
The Italian title provveditore or proveditore , "he who sees to things", was the style of various local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Venetian dogal republic...
. Francesco Battaia, hesitating to follow up his actions with force, replied that Ottolini should double-check if this information was true. Thanks to a spy, Ottolini quickly confirmed Napoleon's intentions, but still Battaia did nothing.
The work of democratising Bergamao was initiated by François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
, the successor to Baraguay d'Hilliers, but there were too few Jacobin locals. Napoleon reminded the general that the democratisation should appear to be the will of the people - the general, therefore, whilst keeping Ottolini otherwise occupied, summoned representatives of the citizen-body to secede from Venice's rule. These representatives protested but were obliged to assent. Ottolini had in the mentime recalled some military companies from the provinces, and the French used this action as a pretext for occupying the city. Bergamo thus officially became the first city in the Veneto removed from Venice's rule, and Ottolini was forced to give up the city. In the meantime, Napoleon set off to march on Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
via the defiles of Carinthia
Duchy of Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies....
, ultimately ending up in Leoben
Leoben
Leoben is a Styrian city in central Austria, located by the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial center and hosts the University of Leoben which specialises in mining...
negotiating a treaty with Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Democratization of Brescia
The next step would have to be the democratisation of BresciaBrescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
. In this case, despite the town already being partially under French control, the democratisation would have to be conducted (or at least appear to be conducted) by the local Jacobins, given that at Bergamo French involvement in the process had been too obvious. On 16 March, a column of soldiers (partly French, partly local Jacobins) left for Brescia. Its podestà, Giovanni Alvise Mocenigo, wished to attack this hostile column but was stopped from doing so by Battaia, who was still worried about the eventual use of force.
Two days later 200 men entered Brescia and, with the aid of Brescian Jacobins, put down what little resistance was offered. Their first act after gaining the city was to hunt down Battaia, who had fled to Verona. Although lacking the support of the population, with French help the Jacobins succeeded in democratising the countryside and (on 28 March) the town of Crema
Crema, Italy
Crema is a town and comune in the province of Cremona, in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is built along the river Serio at 43 km from Cremona. It is also the seat of a Catholic Bishop, who gave to Crema the title of city...
.
The Veronese revolts and campaign
The provveditore Battaia arrived at Verona on 22 March, and immediately called a meeting of the council, which included several other military leaders (the conte Pompei, Ernesto Bevilacqua, Antonio Maffei, Marcantonio Miniscalchi, Ignazio Giusti, Francesco Emilei and Alessandro Ottolini). During the council, Maffei, Ottolini and Emilei tried to convince the other members of the importance of reconquering the territory they had lost and that at that moment this was the most important thing for the defence of the Veronese nation, against the Jacobin members' objections. Battaia urged caution, but conte Emilei noted that passive resistance had already lost them Brescia, and that Verona's citizens were ready to take up arms against the Jacobin Lombards. Battaia, realising that many of those present were of Emilei's opinion, changed his mind and so it was unanimously decided to provide for the defence of Verona's borders, nominally against the local Jacobins but in effect also to prevent Napoleon's own force returning into Italy.Action was immediately taken: Miniscalchi was put in command of the long defence-line at Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
, and Bevilacqua of the line between Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona
Villafranca di Verona is a town and comune in the province of Verona in the Veneto, Northern Italy.-History:The position on the ancient via Postumia and the perpendicular intersection structure of its roads suggests that the city had Roman origins....
and the border with Ferrara
Ferrara
Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...
, with Maffei positioned between these two lines.
Meanwhile conte Augusto Verità had returned to Verona. Always enjoying good relations with the French, he proposed to get an assurance of French neutrality before the Veronese forces clashed with the Jacobins. Writing to the commander of the French troops at Verona, general Antoine Balland, he stated:
The substance of the letter was a request for authorisation to defend Verona's boundaries against aggressors, which the French general was forced to consent to, since if he did not the only way they could officialise their arrival would be through Venice's authority over her territories. Bonaparte agreed with Balland's decision, and informed the Venetian senate that French troops would not intervene and that he was hurt by how much success they had had at Bergamo and Brescia. Balland's response to the letter aroused Verona's inhabitants to great enthusiasm for defending their own territory.
Initially the military leaders were instructed to defend Verona's borders with practically no men, although the cernide
Cernida
The cernide or cernida were territorial armies of the Veneto and Istria that annually received some military training...
was able to offer 6,000 men, and many volunteers arrived, especially from Valpolicella
Valpolicella
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine...
.
On 23 March news reached Verona that 500 Jacobin soldiers headed for Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda
Peschiera del Garda , is a town and comune in the province of Verona, in Veneto, Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule, Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the so-called Quadrilatero...
or Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river....
had set out from Brescia - the officials and troops rushed to take up their positions. Miniscalchi went to Colà, a small village above the hills of Lazise
Lazise
Lazise is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 20 km northwest of Verona. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Garda...
, Giusti to Povegliano Veronese
Povegliano Veronese
Povegliano Veronese is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 110 km west of Venice and about 5 km from the Catullo Airport -External links:*...
, Bevilacqua to Cerea
Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum . On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the...
, and Maffei to Valeggio. From Valeggio Maffei could see that the enemy troops were still not in sight, and was thus had time to put his own troops in better order. 24 fanti coming from Brescia also joined his force, as well as 40 Croatian cavalrymen and 2 cannons coming from Verona. On 27 March he decided to send off a scouting party, whilst at Castelnuovo del Garda
Castelnuovo del Garda
Castelnuovo del Garda is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 15 km west of Verona....
1,500 volunteers gathered.
News of the Veronese troop movements arrived at the Bermagascene valleys, where several anti-French revolts were breaking out. On 29 March the whole Bergamascene mountainous zone rose in revolt, in such great numbers that its leaders decided to march on Bergamo.
Around the same time the population of Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
rose up, urged to resistance by Battaia, who assured them by letter that he would send them munitions and 80 dragoon
Dragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
s. The letter roused the population's enthusiasm, and they succeeded in raising the Leone di San Marco flag and forcing the Jacobins to flee the city. A short time later the inhabitants of Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno is a town and comune on the West coast of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is located c. 40 km from Brescia....
, Tuscolano
Toscolano-Maderno
Toscolano-Maderno is a town and comune on the West coast of Lake Garda, in the province of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is located c. 40 km from Brescia....
and Teglie
Vobarno
Vobarno is a town and comune of the Province of Brescia in the Italian region of Lombardy, at 246 m above sea-level, with 7,500 inhabitants as of the 2003 census...
also rose up. 1,000 men - Lombard Jacobins, Polish soldiers and French soldiers - that had gathered at Brescia were invited to Salò. These men met the insurgents at Villanuova
Villanuova sul Clisi
Villanuova sul Clisi is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy.As of 2007 Villanuova sul Clisi had an estimated population of 5,627.-Sister city:Villanuova sul Clisi is twinned with: Trébeurden, France, since 2000.*...
, not far from the little town of Garda, but they lacked ammunition and had to quickly retreat into Salò itself. A second encounter saw a victory by the inhabitants of Salò, thanks to an attack on the three sides of the mountain range of the val Sabbia: among the enemy troops, 66 were killed and several taken prisoner, including several Jacobin leaders.
Battaia, as he had promised, sent off 80 dragoons on 30 March. In the meantime Calcinato
Calcinato
Calcinato is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is bounded by other communes of Mazzano, Lonato and Bedizzole....
and Bedizzole
Bedizzole
Bedizzole is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy....
hunted down local Jacobins, clearing the road to Salò for the dragoons, who thus reached Salò after capturing several fleeing Jacobins.
In the meantime a Veronese attack on Desenzano
Desenzano del Garda
Desenzano del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, which borders Lake Garda. It is bordered by other communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Garda and Sirmione.-History:...
failed : news of the uprising in the Bergamascene and Brescian valleys, at Lonato
Lonato
Lonato del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. Lonato is located in the middle of northern Italy, about half way between Milan and Venice, on the south-west shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy.The commune is bordered by those of near Castiglione...
and Salò encouraged the territories of the Venetian Republic, but on the same day came news that the French were attacked the insurgents who had surrounded Bergamo, and the following day that two battles had occurred - one had been won by the French, and the other by the insurgents, with the insurgents nevertheless having to retreat into the mountains and surrender, thus demonstrating the French army had the upper hand.
Maffei had decided to march on Brescia, but was convinced out of it by Battaia, for (according to Battaia) France could use such an action as a pretext for declaring war on Venice. With the support of Iseppo Giovannelli e Alvise Contarini (the Venetian government representatives in the city), Maffei had a clear road down which to advance but had orders to stop 10 miles short of Brescia - the troops would march to the top of the Mincio
Mincio
Mincio is a river in the Lombardy region of northern Italy.Called the Sarca River before entering Lake Garda, it flows from there about 65 km past Mantua into the Po River....
but not advance on the city, with themselves and the insurgents blockading it on 3 sides.
General Charles Edward Kilmaine
Charles Edward Kilmaine
Charles Edward Jennings , commonly known as Brave Kilmaine, was a revolutionary and one of the greatest Irish soldiers to serve France in the eighteenth century. A gallant and celebrated general, philanthropist and baron, he was committed both to the cause of Irish independence and to that of the...
(Irish in origin, but then serving in the French army) gathered 7,000 men at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
and left for Brescia, along the way attacking the rebelling villages and forcing them to fund his expedition. Meanwhile at Brescia general Landrieux threatened Maffei with a bombardment of Verona if he did not leave the field and so, after two short clashes between French and Venetian troops on 8 and 9 April, Maffei decided to retreat towards Verona.
The final days before the revolt
Napoleon (then marching towards Austria) was convinced that the last forces of the Venetian Republic had concentrated in the stronghold at Verona. In effect, although the recent events showed that Venice had taken the initiative taken back from the French, Venice continued to proclaim its neutrality. Bonaparte sent a spy to Verona, Angelo Pico, who rendezvoused with about 300 Jacobins there, to put a conspiracy into effect. This, however, was uncovered by the secret police, and on 11 April some patrols (uniquely taking action in broad daylight) arrested them in the street and at home, even if Pico and other leaders of the plot succeeded in evading capture by taking refuge in Verona's fortifications (then in French hands). Giovanelli went to protest deeply, but was not even given a reply, and the French commander Balland supplied ammunition and ordered the town's castelli to be fortified. Contarini, worried, sent off an urgent letter to the Senate and to the Doge.In the meantime came news of the French's suppression of the rebellions at Lonato
Lonato
Lonato del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. Lonato is located in the middle of northern Italy, about half way between Milan and Venice, on the south-west shore of Lake Garda, the biggest lake in Italy.The commune is bordered by those of near Castiglione...
and Salò
Salò
Salò is a town and commune in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy on the banks of Lake Garda. The city was the capital of Italian Social Republic from 1943 to 1945, with the ISR often being called the "Republic of Salò" .-History:Salò was founded in the Roman period as Pagus...
.
Contarini and Giovanelli on 6 April sent Nogarola to the defence of Verona's eastern borders, near Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala
Isola della Scala is a comune of c. 10,000 inhabitants in the Province of Verona in the Italian region of Veneto, located about 90 km west of Venice and about 20 km southeast of Verona....
, to protect them from attack from behind. On 15 April the stronghold of Peschiera del Garda, in Veronese territory, formally became a French possession. In the meanwhile 400 Poles marched towards Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, the French artillery moved to lake Garda, enemy movements were sighted near Cerea
Cerea
Cerea is a town and comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.-History:From 923 AD until 1223 Cerea was a castrum . On 1223 Cerea it became a "comune" but, a year after, it was plundered because of the war between Mantua and Verona. A period of decadence followed, also because of the...
where Bevilacqua was positioned, and on the road for Vicenza was posted Giambattista Allegri.
French troops were welcomed into Castelnuovo, since neutrality was still technically in force. When, however, some Venetian troops went into church, leaving their weapons outside, the French requisitioned these weapons, thus once again breaching the neutrality. It was then that Maffei received the order to leave the Mincio, given the considerable risk of being picked off from behind.
After ten months of French occupation the situation had now also reached a critical point within the town: the French soldiers often confiscated the citizens' assets and plotted with the local Jacobins to replace the local government.
17 April
During the night between 16 and 17 April 1797, a manifesto was pinned up in the town's streets, apparently signed by Francesco Battaia and inciting Verona to rebel against the French and local collaborators with them. The manifesto was actually the work of Salvadori, on Landrieux's instructions, in order to supply a pretext for the French to definitively occupy the town.The forgery could easily have been unmasked - the manifesto had already been published in March in some newspapers, like the Termometro Politico and the Monitore Bolognese, and Battaia was at that time in Venice not Verona. The Venetian representatives had all copies taken down, and replaced them with a new manifesto denying the former one and urging the population to remain calm, but now the revolt had already been primed, and in the afternoon diverse brawls were already breaking out.
The French soldiers for their part tried to provoke the crowd, around 2 PM arresting a Venetian artilleryman, while at the same time a brawl broke out in a tavern in via Cappello between a Frenchman and a Croatian. The Frenchman came off worse and fled back to his own patrol, which protested loudly. It was then that the people took up arms en masse, and in the turmoil between the people and the soldiers came a rifle shot left which put the French to flight. Shortly after another brawl exploded in a tavern on Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe
Piazza delle Erbe is a square in Verona, northern Italy. Once it was the town's forum during the time of the Roman Empire.-Description:The northern side of the square is occupied by the ancient town hall, the Torre dei Lamberti, the Casa dei Giudici and the Mazzanti Houses...
, while some people who had previously been kept in check by officers of the Venetian army attacked the guards to the Ponte Pietra
Ponte di Pietra
The Ponte Pietra , once known as the Pons Marmoreus, is a Roman arch bridge crossing the Adige River in Verona, Italy...
and Ponte Nuovo
Ponte Nuovo
Ponte Nuovo is a of the of Deruta in the Province of Perugia, Umbria, central Italy. It stands at an elevation of 176 metres above sea level. At the time of the Istat census of 2001 it had 589 inhabitants....
. The French commanders then directed troops into the town, and stationed 600 men in piazza Bra
Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings...
to monitor the situation.
The townspeople were calming down when, around 5 pm, on the orders of general Balland, the cannons of castel San Felice (the French headquarters) and Castel San Pietro opened fire, and numerous shots landed in piazza dei Signori. This French action was caused by the commanders' safety and ability to monitor the revolt easily, feeling it would be a useful pretext to occupy the town officially. Verona's citizens were at that moment entering the church, and were overcome with anger.
The first episode of the uprising occurred in Piazza d'Armi
Piazza Bra
Piazza Bra, often shortened to Bra, is the largest piazza in Verona, Italy, with some claims that it is the largest in the country. The piazza is lined with numerous cafés and restaurants, along with several notable buildings...
, where 600 French soldiers were stationed near the hospital (today the site of palazzo Barbieri), whilst Venetian soldiers found themselves near the Liston (around 500) and under the Gran Guardia. Hearing the first shots of the French cannon, the French troops took up arms and set off quickly towards Castelvecchio
Castelvecchio (Verona)
Castelvecchio is a castle in Verona, northern Italy. It is the most important military construction of the Scaliger dynasty that ruled the city in the Middle Ages....
, whilst the Venetian troops were dismayed, not knowing what they were allowed to do after their commanders' had reminded them for months of the importance of Venetian neutrality. Meanwhile, the Veronese began firing from neighbouring palaces, injuring some soldiers.
The townspeople raged against the French troops who had vanished throughout the town and from their guard-points of the bridges. Numerous soldiers had been killed or captured, while those messengers who were fleeing went to hide in their companions' lodgings and the entrances were barricaded, but the townspeople got into these lodgings and even onto their roofs, even as the bombardment of the town from the surrounding strong points and from castel Vecchio continued.
At this moment Francesco Emilei was encamped near Lugagnano, a few kilometres from Verona, and on hearing of the revolt rapidly marched back to Verona with his troops. On the morning of the 17th the French had doubled their guards on the town gates, but Porta Vescovo was easily captured by Coldogno and (with a little more effort) Nogarola managed to take porta San Giorgio. Emilei took porta San Zeno from outside the city and was able to enter with 2,500 volunteers of the cernide, 600 other troops and 2 cannon, which he divided into 4 corps, posted in different locations in and outside the town: one corps was put outside porta Nuova to block the French escape, and another near bastione dei Riformati.
Armed with rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s, pistols, sabre
Sabre
The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...
s, pitchforks and staffs
Quarterstaff
A quarterstaff , also short staff or simply staff is a traditional European pole weapon and a technique of stick fighting, especially as in use in England during the Early Modern period....
, the townsfolk rushed through the streets, killing, wounding and capturing several Frenchmen. One of the rebellion's first acts was to release several Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
troops from their prisons to join with the rebels.
In the late afternoon Emilei, who had just taken porta Nuova, decided to leave for Veneice to seek help from the Venetian army. In contrast Iseppo Giovannelli and Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini
Alvise Contarini was the 106th Doge of Venice, reigning from his election on August 26, 1676 until his death seven and a half years later...
, the Venetian government representatives in the town, thought they could even now turn Verona back to its former Venetian neutrality, and so tried to make a compromise with the French military authorities, interrupting the sound of bells and hoisting a white flag atop torre dei Lamberti
Torre dei Lamberti
The Torre dei Lamberti is 84 m high tower in Verona, northern Italy.The tower was begun in 1172; in May 1403 a lightning struck it, but only in 1448 restoration works were started, lasting until 1464. In the occasion the tower was enlarged: the more recent sections can be recognized today by...
. Balland paused the bombardment (even if battle continued around Castel Vecchio, it having been isolated from the castelli on the hills and was thus unable to gain information on the course of events). Negotiations thus began, which Balland wanted to prolong to give more time for French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations failed and the Venetian governors then sought in vain to calm down the populace. Fearful of how the situation would develop, in the meeting between 17 and 18 April the governors decided to withdraw to Vicenza
Vicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, and before their departure ordered the troops not to participate in the battle. Hence, on 18 April, Giovannelli and Contarini, according to the plan they had put forward in the meeting, would be directed to Venice, to ask the Senate for help. The order was carried out, at first, by Nogarola, Berettini and Allegri, while Antonio Maria Perez continued military operations. In the meantime the population continued to raid any buildings holding (or believed to hold) French soldiers, systematically killing them, while the streets of the town heard nothing but a continuous scream in every corner of the town of "Viva San Marco!".
18 April
On the 18th, with the governors already set out for VicenzaVicenza
Vicenza , a city in north-eastern Italy, is the capital of the eponymous province in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, straddling the Bacchiglione...
, Emilei made preparations to get to Venice to contact the Senate, while in Verona Maffei and other military leaders sought to organise the army and the populace, since provveditore Bartolomeo Giuliari alone was unable to bear the gravity of the situation. The French cannon in castello di San Felice and castello di San Pietro opened fire again almost as soon as the truce expired, and quick French sorties (sent out from them with the aim of taking the pressure off Castel Vecchio) were quickly repulsed.
The news of the flight by the two provveditori irritated the populace, who continued to fight in an uncoordinated manner, whilst several peasants and mountain-dwellers arrived from Contado, some of whom were armed. Giuliari ordered the commanders to give weapons to those from Contado who had none, and produce a constitution for a provisional regency, which then put itself in contact with general Balland, stipulating a three hour truce elsewhere even if the battle around Castel Vecchio continued. Meanwhile some citizens succeeded in carrying artillery pieces up onto the colle San Leonardo, higher than both the surrounding hills (colle San Pietro and the Torricelle), and were thus easily able to fire down on the strong points on these hills. Some soldiers were shortly afterwards detached to support the townsfolk on the hill, and to defend the hills themselves.
The principal objective became the capture of Castel Vecchio, to which end the people transported two artillery pieces from bastione di Spagna to porta Borsari
Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD...
and the roof of the teatro Filarmonico, on which wooden scaffolds were installed. Shortly afterwards the people were replaced there by Austrian soldiers, clearly more expert in this field. In the meantime other mortars taken from the enemy were used to besiege the castello, while from Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa is a city and comune in the province of Vicenza, region Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo sul Brenta, Conco, Rosà, Cartigliano and Nove...
conte Augusto Verità arrived at the head of 200 Austrian prisoners. The French trapped in castel Vecchio carried a cannon up to the top of the clock tower and began to bombard porta Borsari
Porta Borsari
Porta Borsari is an ancient Roman gate in Verona, northern Italy.It dates to the 1st century AD, though it was most likely built over a pre-existing gate from the 1st century BC. An inscription dating from emperor Gallienus' reign reports another reconstruction in 265 AD...
, but Augusto Verità responded by bombarding the clock tower with Austrian artillery, succeeding in hitting it, knocking off the cannon and forcing the French to evacuate it. Some of the French on the castle walls were also hit by cannon fire. Shortly before a new assault on the castle a band of French soldiers came out with a white flag as if under truce. Captain Rubbi advanced towards them to negotiate, but the French party then unmasked a cannon and began to fire it, killing Rubbi's soldiers and 30 Veronese. This unleashed all hell around the castello, whilst the timings of the revolt were rung out from torre dei Lamberti
Torre dei Lamberti
The Torre dei Lamberti is 84 m high tower in Verona, northern Italy.The tower was begun in 1172; in May 1403 a lightning struck it, but only in 1448 restoration works were started, lasting until 1464. In the occasion the tower was enlarged: the more recent sections can be recognized today by...
, which the French unsuccessfully tried to demolish with cannon fire.
Many peasant volunteers began arriving from the countryside, armed with pitchforks, bastoni and small-arms. Of their resolution, Alberghini writes that "it appeared on the faces of all the desire to die for the Fatherland and of themselves to risk all. The peasants of Vallagarina
Vallagarina
The Lagarina Valley is a valley in northern Italy, used to define the lower mountain course of the Adige River. It is mostly included in the province of Trentino, with the lower section being part of the province of Verona. The largest town is Rovereto....
succeeded in attacking and capturing the church next to Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese
Rivoli Veronese is a comune in Veneto, Italy, in the Province of Verona, on a hill on the right bank of the Adige, 20 km miles NW of Verona.-History:...
, while the mountain-dwellers of Lessinia attacked forte San Felice and castel San Pietro from the north. In the meantime conte Miniscalchi controlled the lake Garda
Lake Garda
Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...
defence-line, Bevilacqua the line at Legnago
Legnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, and Allegri the San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio
San Bonifacio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 80 km west of Venice and about 25 km east of Verona....
line: Verona's borders were thus all guarded and - for the moment - calm.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg
Adam Albert von Neipperg
Adam Albert, Count von Neipperg was an Austrian general and statesman. The son of a diplomat, famous for inventing a letter-copying machine, and a French mother, he was the grandson of Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg....
arrived in the city with a band of soldiers, and informed Balland of the treaty of Leoben
Treaty of Leoben
The Treaty of Leoben was signed on 17 April 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was a preliminary accord that contained many secret clauses. From these clauses, Austria would lose the Austrian Netherlands and Lombardy in exchange for the Venetian territories of Istria and Dalmatia...
Bonaparte had negotiated between the French Republic and the Austrian Empire
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
, while the population rejoiced, thinking he was bringing aid to Verona: thus the rebels lost their precious support from Austrian troops. Between intermittent truces, Verona was systematically bombarded from the strongholds and its population continued to fight around the strongholds and attempt to capture them.
19 April
On 19 April Bevilacqua was defeated by French troops at LegnagoLegnago
Legnago is a town and comune in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy. It is located on the Adige river, c. 43 km from Verona.Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and tobacco.-History:...
, whilst Miniscalchi was blockaded at Bardolino
Bardolino
Bardolino is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 130 km west of Venice and about 25 km northwest of Verona....
, leaving only Maffei outside Verona, at Valeggio
Valeggio sul Mincio
Valeggio sul Mincio is a comune in the Province of Verona in the Italian region Veneto, located about 120 km west of Venice and about 25 km southwest of Verona. It is crossed by the Mincio river....
, who decided to withdraw to Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna
Sommacampagna is a comune in the province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy.In the frazione of Custoza two battles were fought during the Italian Independence Wars.The town's main football team is Associazione Calcio Somma....
with his 900 infantry and 250 cavalry, so as not to be cut off by the French advance guard: arriving at Sommacampagna left his command to Ferro and returned to Verona in search of orders. The same day Emilei arrived back from Venice, without the help they had hoped for, while at Vicenza the two representatives were persuaded by Erizzo to return and resume negotiations with Balland: the general replied that he and his men would have left the town if the population had been disarmed but that, after the episode at Castel Vecchio, he could believe no one, not even the two representatives.
After this useless attempt at mediation, Contarini and Giovannelli organized the people, who shouted "we want war" and were prepared to defend the town to the bitter end, as shown by a proclamation in which they affirmed that "through removing confusion and disorder, fatal to the good of all, the faithful people of Verona remain committed to withdrew into their respective Contrade [districts]. There they will assign leaders, obedient to you, and be united in one body and the same leaders will obey the cariche's orders and always give themselves towards the common good".
Battle thus continued, in particular at Castel Vecchio, where the cannon had been given over to the inexpert hands of the Veronese citizens and so were not doing any more major damage. Meanwhile, from the colle San Leonardo, the bombardment of the strongholds continued, and the strongholds had turned to bombarding the city, causing several fires and adding to the damage already caused by the French raids: in one short sortie they had started fires in the surrounding palaces of the town's noble families, destroying several works of art. During another sortie, from Castel Vecchio, the French succeeded in setting light to palazzo Liorsi and palazzo Perez, though on their return all but five of the French soldiers were killed by the rioters.
Near the lazzaretto di Sanmicheli, occupied by a French hospital, a column of armed peasants headed towards the city heard a few rifle shots coming from inside the hospital - enraged, the peasants beat down its doors and massacred the six French soldiers they found inside.
In the afternoon Neipperg and his soldiers left Verona, given that the truce between France and Austria was only due to last a week. In compensation he warned the population that if they resisted him while the truce was still in force he would return to help them. Meanwhile a French scouting party approached porta San Zeno, which withdrew immediately when fired on by cannon mounted on the city walls. In the same instant, however, they met the column of soldiers under Maffei which was guarding the Chievo
Chievo
Chievo is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around 4km from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C...
line at Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia (Verona)
Santa Lucia was an ancient paesino next to Verona...
. In this line were positioned around 6,000 men under Chabran, while the men under Victor and Miollis
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis
Sextius Alexandre François de Miollis was a French military officer serving in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars.-Biography:...
were still marching for Verona.
20 and 21 April