The Sack of Lugo was a riot and uprising against French troops by inhabitants of Lugo, Emilia-Romagna and neighbouring towns between 30 June and 8 July 1796. Cfr. in La sommossa e il sacco di Lugo (1796). Estratto dal Vol. XVI degli Atti della Deputazione ferrarese di Storia Patria, Tip. G. Zuffi, 1906.
Context
Lugo was subject to the Papal States and was in effect ruled by the papal legate living in Ferrara. At the start of June legate Francesco Maria Pignatelli warned the Holy See that Bonaparte's army was only five miles from the border of the Papal States. On 21 June Pignatelli was summoned to Bologna for consultation but as soon as he arrived there he was dismissed and made a prisoner of war. The following day the 'Municipio' was established in Ferrara, swearing fealty to the Republic and declaring the city and the legation (including Lugo) freed from the Papal States.
On 23 June the French troops demanded that the local population hand in all pointed and edged weapons and firearms within 24 hours. They also emptied the public coffers, seizing 332,000 lira and imposing a contribution of more than 4 million livre tournois on the whole Legation of Ferrara, with fifteen days to raise it. They later also took possession of and ransacked the monte di Pietà.
The order to hand in weapons arrived in Lugo on 26 June, but - when the population had already partially complied - it was revoked on 28 June and weapons were returned to their rightful owners. The same day an order arrived from Ferrara about the contribution, explaining that that capital was only a loan and would be paid back. In Lugo the Trisi College was set as the place for contributions to be handed in.
Course 30 June
On the morning of the 30th, two Republican commissioners, Commendatore Cremona and Doctor Scutelari, traveled from Ferrara to Lugo, tasked with ordering the communities of the to collect the funds. Between the 28th and the 30th, the people of Lugo had gathered, between cash and valuables, 18,000 scudi. The commissioners demanded the assets be handed over immediately, despite the lack of a warrant and that the fifteen-day deadline was still days away. The municipality's magistrates objected and refused. The two commissioners, interested in the market value of the silver, ordered soldiers to seize the silver bust of Hilary of Galeata, the patron saint of Lugo. The bust was taken to Trisi College, an intolerable offense to the people of Lugo.
The commissioners had traveled on to Bagnacavallo in the afternoon and returned to Lugo that evening, where they again demanded the surrender of all assets. An uprising broke out, with the insurgents seizing the weapons that had been requisitioned on the 26th but not yet returned to their owners and taking control of the municipality, preventing the assets being handed over. The mount of piety and Trisi College were placed under strict guard. The municipality's governor was forced to take refuge in the convent. The two commissioners from Ferrara had vanished.
During the night, around fifty of the insurgents traveled to Castel Bolognese, which had a gunpowder factory. They returned to Lugo with a cart full of the powder.
1 July
A Republican municipal government established itself in Lugo, replacing the papal insignia with its own.
The insurgents traveled to each house, rallying support and spreading the call to take up arms against the French. The Manzoni family, one of the most prominent families in Lugo and the Romagna estense as well as one of the key instigators of the uprising, supplied the insurgents with additional weapons and with horses. In the late morning, the insurgents entered the town hall, seized the municipal standard, and, accompanied by the beating of drums, marched with it to Trisi College.
There, in front of the crowd, the standards of the Pope and the Cardinal Legate were once more raised. The populace was called upon to join the insurgents. Alarm bells rang to alert the peasants. With around 600 people gathered, Count Giambattista Manzoni, age 34, was chosen to lead the rebellion. Trisi College became their headquarters.
Around noon, a "Notice" was posted on the city walls, reading:
The notification spread throughout Romagna estense as well as neighboring Ravenna and Bologna. Simultaneously, four citizens had been dispatched to neighboring towns, urging them to take up arms alongside the people of Lugo. Cotignola, Barbiano, Massa Lombarda and Sant'Agata all responded favorably, while long-standing rival Bagnacavallo and Fusignano declined to join the uprising. Bagnara, Solarolo, and Mordano joined with the insurgents. Sentries were stationed along all roads into Lugo and outside the city gates with orders to stop all modes of transport and search outsiders.
2 July
Cardinal Gregorio Chiaramonti, then Bishop of Imola, sent a letter to the local municipalities upon learning of the revolt that read in part:
The letter was attached to an official proclamation. It noted that similar attempts in the past had ended in tragedy, pointing out that the people of Lugo had "neither battle-hardened soldiers, nor adequate arms, nor a fortress, nor provisions, nor a united purpose." Chiaramonti called upon them to lay down their arms and collect the war levy.
On receiving the notice and its attached letter, the public officials forwarded it to the insurgents' headquarters. The rebels went to the Town Hall and forbade the Magistrate from publicly posting the edict, then demanded the restoration of the bust of Saint Hilary. Out of respect for the sacred image, they did not take it by their own hands, but instead called for the parish priest of the Church of the Carmine.
The bust was returned to the church and the insurgents decided to hold a three-day period of prayer. During the devotional period, the bust remained on the altar to be venerated by the faithful.
The same day, Napoleon Bonaparte learned of the insurgency taking place in Lugo while on his way to Bologna.
3 July
Count Giambattista Manzoni resigned command of the insurgents, turning it over to Francesco Mongardini, who assumed the nom de guerre "Buonapace". As Mongardini was a blacksmith by trade, this change made it so that the revolt was being led by one of the people.
Bishop Chiaramonti enlisted Giuseppe Capelletti, the chargé d'affaires for the Kingdom of Spain who lived in Bologna, to negotiate. Capelletti arrived in Lugo in the afternoon. He outlined proposed terms to the insurgents: the French would peacefully enter Lugo and would not engage in hostilities; and the rebels would both give up their arms and not oppose the war levy. Capelletti's visit was unsuccessful and he left that evening.
After his departure, a report that the French had reached the Traversara Pass on the Lamone, just east of Bagnacavallo, spread through Lugo. People poured into the streets as the church bells rang out the alarm. That night, an armed group set out to confront the French, but their enemy never appeared as the earlier report proved to be unfounded.
4 July
The Bishop of Imola tried once more to end the rebellion by writing to the legal advisor for the Lugo community, Dr. Luigi Zaccari. In his letter, Cardinal Chiaramonti requested that five prisoners be released, which he stated would be a gesture of good will towards those convicted of political crimes. The Bishop's requests were denied.
On 2 July, Napoleon had sent the following instruction to Rome:
Napoleon then ordered those forces stationed at Ferrara and Ravenna to leave those legations and join units stationed north of the Po. He was preparing for a crucial clash with the Austrian Army. Only the troops under the command of remained in Ferrara.
The fourth passed without major incidents or upheaval in Lugo. Many farmers returned to work in the fields; however, the armed populace, recognizing Mongardini as their sole commander, dominated the town. That evening, they received the news of the French troops' withdrawal from Ravenna and Ferrara. Some of the insurgents saw this as a first victory, but others perceived danger. Of Lugo's leading families, only the Manzoni counts and the Dal Buono nobles remained, the others having fled Lugo.
5 July
As the third day of prayer began around 11 AM, a messenger arrived in Lugo with news that a French detachment from Faenza was approaching the city. The sixty men had set out initially from Forlì, their orders to arrest Giovanni Melandri, the printer listed on the publicly posted proclamation. The soldiers had not received precise information about the revolt, so did not take particular precautions in their approach, and were ambushed by the insurgents near the casino Bolis.
There were several French casualties, but the rebels remained unharmed. The insurgents then beheaded two of the deceased French officers, mounted their heads on two long poles, and marched back through Lugo with them. Cheering crowds flanked them as they made their way to Trisi College and displayed the severed heads on the balcony of their headquarters.
Two letters arrived at midnight. One, from the Spanish representative in Capelletti, offering to mediate in extremis.
The other letter was from Chiaramonti, a final attempt to resolve the situation with the insurgents emerging unscathed. It stated that four citizens of Lugo, two administrators and two "Elders", would meet with the commander of the French troops in Forlì, . Peace negotiations would then begin. The insurgents accepted the proposal immediately, appointing Count Angelo Manzoni; Giovanni Foschini, a lawyer; Giacomo Ascanio Matteucci, a doctor; and Vincenzo Zanotti as their representatives. All were from families prominent in Lugo.
6 July
Overnight, Beyrand held a war council in Imola to determine what terms he would require of the insurgents. Capelletti would be mediator. The location for negotiations had been agreed as Bagnara, situated between both Lugo and Imola on the right bank of the Santerno.
Beyrand's first stipulation was for the people of Lugo to receive the occupying French troops peacefully. In exchange, he would provide amnesty for those insurgents relinquishing arms and a 24-hour armistice.
At 5 AM, the four representatives from Lugo set out. However, when they arrived, they did not have credentials on them, and were not able to formally represent Lugo in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, General Augereau had ordered Pourailly to take his troops in Ferrara and march on Lugo. In the early afternoon, news reached Lugo that French troops had just passed Argenta. The people of Lugo immediately believed they had been double-crossed, with Beyrand offering peace while Augereau waged war. The church bells rang out the alarm and a short time later, all the armed men of Lugo marched toward the .
Augereau sent a letter to Count Manzoni, the most prominent of Lugo's delegates, stating his intention to enter the territory of Lugo on the 7th as a friend and personally negotiate a final agreement. This would have voided any of the negotiations at Bagnara, had Lugo's representatives been permitted to negotiate any terms. However, Augereau's true intent was to attack from the north with Pourailly and from the south with both Beyrand's troops and his own.
As they moved to intercept French troops before they reached the Santerno River, the insurgents sought reinforcements from Bagnacavallo, who promised 2,000 scudi within two days, and from Fusignano, who flatly refused assistance to the rebels. Lugo's men clashed with 500 French soldiers at , south of Argenta and north of Lugo, near one of the Manzonis' fortified villas. The rebels were able to halt the French advance by using the embankment of the Santerno as a defensive bulwark, with the battle ending as night fell.
7 July