had received Napoleon's backing, as the Republic was now in the Russian orbit. In spring, Ali's forces attacked Lefkada. The reinforcement of the island with Russian and Souliot troops, and the failure of Ali's troops to capture the Castle of Santa Maura, led to the attack being broken off. Nevertheless, on 2 June the Senate resolved the establishment of an 'Ionian Encampment' () on Lefkada, comprising the Republic's regular forces as well as all the island militias. At the same time, a fortification programme was begun, and Ioannis Kapodistrias was named Commissioner Extraordinary to oversee it. The defence of Lefkada soon attracted widespread support, and even klepht captains from the mainland rushed to join it, including Katsantonis, Kitsos Botsaris, Dimitrios Karaiskos, Georgios Varnakiotis, and most notably, Theodoros Kolokotronis. It was there that Kapodistrias first came into contact with some of the chief military leaders of the subsequent Greek War of Independence. Ultimately, the fate of the Septinsular Republic would be decided in the battlefields and chanceries of Europe: in the Treaty of Tilsit in July, the Ionian Islands were ceded once again to Napoleonic France. On 20 August, French troops landed on Corfu, followed three days later by General César Berthier, who received control of the islands from the Russian admiral Dmitry Senyavin. As the Russians departed, French troops replaced them in all islands, as well as the mainland dependency of Parga. Finally, on 1 September, contrary to his instructions to preserve the Islands' constitution, Berthier as Governor-General declared the annexation of the Septinsular Republic to France. Aftermath: Second French rule and British conquest Berthier moved swiftly to abolish the Republic's attributes as an independent state: the French flag was hoisted, all public officials and soldiers took an oath of allegiance to Napoleon, the embassies and agencies of the Republic abroad were abolished, and all domestic bodies apart from the courts and the Senate as well. These measures annoyed Napoleon, who replaced Berthier as Governor-General with François-Xavier Donzelot. His chief task, according to the instructions sent by Napoleon, was to defend the islands, and above all Corfu, against the mounting British threat. In November 1807, Napoleon regulated the administration of the new French possessions: the internal structure of the Republic was retained largely along the lines of the 1803 Constitution, including the Ionian Senate (although its members were now appointed rather than elected), but the administration was overseen by a