 In Italy the emperor took the initiative, and an Austrian army under Prince Eugene, intended to overrun the Spanish possessions in the Peninsula, assembled in Tyrol in the early summer, while the opposing army (French, Spaniards, and Piedmontese), commanded by Marshal Catinat, was slowly drawing together between the Chiese and the Adige.But supply difficulties hampered Eugene, and the French were able to occupy the strong positions of the Rivoli defile above Verona.There Catinat thought himself secure, as all the country to the east was Venetian and neutral.