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 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. Chronology of the revolt 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