104] 
that his main design was to establish 
the power and influence of the 
French in Italy. At Milan he 
formed the plan of a republic on 
the model of that of France, and to 
be under her protection, in the same 
manner as the victorious and am- 
bitious Romans admitted the con- 
quered states to the alliances and 
frendship of the senate and people 
of Rome: thus endeavouring to 
subvert the authority of the empe- 
ror, and to erect that of France on 
its ruins, by abolishing feudal rights, 
and giving the great mass of the peo- 
ple a share and an interest.in the 
new government. He fortified 
Verona, notwithstanding the recla- 
mations of the Venetians; and placed 
general officers, in whom he could 
confide, over the Tuscan troops, as 
wellasover those of Piedmont and 
Milan. The intentions of the 
French were still less concealed at 
Paris; where those who bore sway, 
at the same time that they professed 
a desire to fraternize with all na- 
tions, talking of nothing but the 
extension of their arms, and of 
Paris becoming the capital of Eu- 
rope. They boasted of the gene- 
Tous design of giving peace and tran- 
quillity to all nations wader the pro- 
tection of the French republic. 
In the mean time, Buonaparte was 
preparing to meet the new general 
appointed to take the command of 
the Imperial forces that were marcb- 
ing to the protection of the Tyrol, 
The situation of the French at this 
period was extremely critical: they 
had subdued an extensive range of 
country; to preserve which they 
had been obliged to detach con- 
siderable numbers from their main 
body. The remains of Beaulieu’s 
army, and the reinforcements ar- 
riving with marshal Wurmser, com- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1796. 
posed a much more formidable 
strength than that under Buonaparte. 
But the confidence he placed in the 
valour of his men, and that which ~ 
they reposed in his superior genius 
and skill, seemed, in the opinion of 
the public, to stand him in the stead 
of numbers. 
The passes into the Tyrol were 
guarded by works extending from 
the Lake of Garda to the river Adige. | 
Here the Imperial commander, 
newly arrived, posted himself: but 
the French generals Massena, and 
Joubert, at the head of a select 
body, broke into his lines, by turn- 
ing his right and left: they seized 
his baggage and standing camp, and 
forced him to retreat with the utmost 
precipitation, This happened to- 
wards the close of June. 
The first engagement, between 
Wurmser and the French, would 
probably have been followed with 
worse consequences to him, had not 
an insurrection taken place in a city 
of the ecclesiastical state, which ob- 
structed for a while their intended 
operations. ‘The inhabitants of the 
city and district of Lugo, incited by 
the complaints of their clergy, and 
others who bore heavily the French 
yoke, took uparms, as they expressed 
themselves, in defence of their saints, 
and their lawful sovereign, the 
pope. A small detachment was 
sent to quell them, but they forced 
it to retire, after killing some men, 
the heads of two of whom, accord- 
ing to the French accounts, they ex= 
posed at the town house of Lugo. 
The French general, who was sent 
with a sufficient force to reduce 
them, employed admonitions and 
threats to that purpose: but they 
set him at defiance, and’ made a 
desperate resistance: upwards of a 
thousand of them were killed ahd 
wounded, 
