Today I am going to tell you about the Veronese
Easter (known as Pasqua Veronese.) This was an uprising during Easter 1797,
against the French occupying force, led by Antoine Balland.
It was part of a wider insurgency across the Italian city states. These revolts attempted
to end the occupation of the Italian peninsula by the French Republic forces.
The troops of the France Republic, arrived in Verona in 1796, and had been expected
to be temporary liberating guests. Little did the people know, Napoleon coveted the
rich region of Venetian Lombardy, as a republic, loyal to France.
From the outset, the French troops behaved as a malevolant occupying force. They confiscated
assets and tried to overthrow the local government which angered the local population.
At the same time, they craftily did not lower the flags of San Marco in Verona,
conscious that it remained formally under the control of the Republic of Venice.
Consequently, the Republic of Venice had to remain neutral
and could not engage with the French forces. Nearby Bergamo were not fooled by French
assurances. They began to gather their forces, but the French led by Louis Baraguey d'Hilliers
occupied Bergamo and still, the Republic of Venice did nothing.
Governor Battaia arrived in Verona on 22 March, and convened the government and military leaders.
As the leaders argued, Verona's citizens were already resolved to resist the Jacobins (French
political revolutionaries.) As the French generals gave assurances the would not interfere with neutral Venice's territory,
already volunteers were beginning to arrive in Verona, from the surrounding areas.
Anti-French revolts broke out in Salò and forced out the Jacobins and flew
the San Marco flag of Venice. A force of 1,000 men, Jacobins,
Polish and French soldiers pursued the insurgents to Salò itself
but eventually these uprisings, in the surrounding area, were put down.
Napoleon remained suspicious of Venice as the unrest in and around Verona continued.
His agent met the Jacobins but was found out by the police, and fled Verona.
As the French commander Antoine Balland fortified the city, Contarini, sent a letter to the Doge in
Venice asking for military support. On 15 April, Peschiera del Garda,
was now a French stronghold. 400 Polish troops now approached the outskirts of Verona
On the 16 April 1797, a note was posted in Verona, apparently from Francesco Battaia
calling for the citizens to rise up against the French. It was actually a forgery,
drafted by General Landrieux’s, seeking a justification for the French to occupy Verona.
Despite the Venetian governors ripping down the fake notices in Verona,
and they continued to urge the people to remain calm, brawls were already breaking
out in Piazza Bra and Piazza delle Erbe. On the 17 April, French soldiers provoked the population,
who were now, in return, confronting the soldiers and attacking the sentries at the Ponte Pietra. The
French commander despatched 600 men to keep order. The French cannons of castel San Pietro opened up,
hitting Piazza dei Signori, which only further enraged the people of Verona.
As the French troops sought refuge from the bombardment in Castelvecchio, the Venetian
troops were confused as they were reminded of Venetian neutrality. All around them, the Veronese
people were attacking the French troops, who now fled the town and the control points on the bridges.
The townspeople began a house-to-house search for French troops, as the bombardment continued above.
Any French soldiers remaining in Verona was killed or captured.
Francesco Emilei, hearing the noise returned to Verona with his troops.
His 3000 troops and volunteers, began to set up defensive positions to block any French escape.
The volunteer Veronese townsfolk, armed with a mixture of weapons and household items,
continued to attack any Frenchmen they found, with and without the support of the Venetian troops.
Some Austrian troops, released from prisons, sided with the insurgents.
Emilei now left for Venice hoping to gain Venetian military support. The Venetian government
representatives in Verona, tried to placate the crowd and negotiate with the French military
authorities, by hoisting a white flag on Torre dei Lamberti. Seeing the flag, General Antoine Balland paused
the bombardment, but he was only really buying time for additional French reinforcements to arrive.
The negotiations (predictably) failed. Fearing an escalation the Venetian governors left for
Vicenza on 18 April, and instructed their (Venetian) troops not to fight. Meanwhile,
the streets of Verona echoed to "Viva San Marco!". The French cannon in castel San Pietro resumed
bombardment of Verona as the truce expired. The Torre dei Lamberti,
continued to ring during the revolt, but was hit several times by the French cannon fire.
As the insurgent leaders argued over what to do, the population continued to fight as
best they could.
As the battle raged around Castel Vecchio,
townsfolk had dragged artillery up to San Leonardo, and assisted by experienced
Austrian soldiers, began to fire on the French strong points, and Castel Vecchio in particular
A French trick waved a white flag, but used it as an opportunity to fire a cannon at the
approaching negotiating party.
The Austrian colonel Adam Adalbert von Neipperg now arrived in Verona with troops,
and informed the French General Balland of a treaty ( treaty of Leoben) negotiated between the French
Republic and the Austrian Empire. The Verona population rejoiced, mistakenly thinking that
Niepperg had arrived to defend Verona.
As Maffei, headed
to Verona seeking orders, Emilei returned from Venice, having gained no military support.
The two Venetian governors who had earlier fled to Vicenza, now returned to Verona to resume negotiations
with General Antoine Balland. Predictably the negotiations failed, as the
population were determined to keep fighting. Bombardment of the French strongholds continued
from San Leonardo, while the French strongholds continued to bomb Verona. As the battle raged around Castel
Vecchio, the cannons operated by the now, untrained Veronese citizens were now doing little damage.
French troops made raids, started fires to destroy surrounding
buildings but took heavy casualties as they did it. The French hospital near the Lazzaretto,
was attacked by armed peasants and the French troops inside were massacred
Neipperg and his Austrian troops left Verona, during a truce.
A French scouting party was attacked and beaten back at Porta San Zeno,
by a mixture of Maffei’s soldiers and Verona citizens. The situation inside the Castel Vecchio was
getting desperate and some French soldiers were beginning to slip away via the Scaligero Bridge.
Supplies of gunpowder, ammunition and food were also beginning to run low in Verona as the city
supported the extra population of volunteers and soldiers. The Venetian Republic agreed a truce
and instructed Verona to surrender, as it could not be defended. The military
leaders and Venetian officials obeyed and gave instructions that all fighting should stop
The Veronese population had ejected the French troops and resisted the prolonged bombardment of the city.
However, the Veronese Easter revolt was brutally stamped out by 15,000 French soldiers who
laid siege to Verona and demanded punitive reparations. On April 23 they did surrender.
Of the original French garrison of three thousand soldiers, five hundred died,
one thousand were wounded and hundreds of French soldiers and their families had been captured.