New political and military initiatives

Political and military events convinced Foscolo to leave Florence and return to Milan on November 17 1813; the defeat of Leipzig, which took place October 14-19, foretold the end of Napoleon's power and, as a consequence, of the Kingdom of Italy and Foscolo intended to actively participate in the resistance against the Austrians, trusting in the command of Viceroy Eugenio di Beauharnais, whom part of the government intended to make the King of Italy. So he asked to return to active military service and was given the post of aide-de-camp to General Achille Fontanelli. Foscolo pursued a project to save the autonomy of the Kingdom of Italy along with many other patriots in the months leading up to Napoleon's abdication (April 6) and the entry of the Austrian troops in Milan (April 28); the revolt that lead to the bloody killing of Finance Minister Giuseppe Prina on April 20 put an end to the hopes of Eugenio di Beauharnais, who signed the armistice with Austrian General Heinrich Johann Bellegarde on April 23. Foscolo helped sedate the revolt of April 20, saving General Peyri from being lynched by the crowd; Ten days later he wrote the Indirizzo della Guardia Civica di Milano (Address of the Civil Guard of Milan), which was directed at the British military authorities, requesting the great power that had defeated Napoleon to allow the establishment of an independent Italian state.

Foscolo carried out various military missions between Lombardy and Bologna in the following months, which were dominated by great political uncertainty; on May 26 General Bellegarde, by this time plenipotentiary minister of the Austrian Emperor in Italy, dispatched him to the General Staff in Milan under General Mazzucchelli.