After his recovery Sérurier took command at Livorno (Leghorn) but he was thrilled to get the order to return to the army. On 27 December 1796 he resumed command of the Mantua siege corps, replacing Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine who had also become ill. The corps consisted of 10,000 men in two divisions under Thomas-Alexandre Dumas and Claude Dallemagne. On 14–15 January 1797 Bonaparte defeated József Alvinczi in the Battle of Rivoli, inflicting terrible losses on the Austrians. Meanwhile, a relief column under Giovanni Marchese di Provera reached the north side of Mantua and on 16 January there was a battle. The Mantua garrison launched a sortie led by Karl Philipp Sebottendorf that made progress at first but was beaten back by reinforcements under Claude Perrin Victor. At the same time, Sérurier and 1,500 troops at La Favorita Palace blocked Provera from joining the garrison. By noon Provera was hemmed in by French reinforcements and at 2:00 pm he surrendered to Sérurier with 7,000 men, 22 field guns, a pontoon train and a food convoy. Afterward, Sérurier got into a dispute with Dumas, who had commanded armies but was now a mere division commander. Angry that his contributions were not recognized, Dumas sent an abusive note to the army chief of staff Louis-Alexandre Berthier and was demoted by Bonaparte. On 30 January, Wurmser began negotiations with Sérurier for the capitulation of Mantua; this was signed on 2 February 1797 by the two generals. The articles permitted Wurmser, his staff, his generals, 700 soldiers and six artillery pieces to go free, but 16,324 men of the garrison became prisoners of war.