rumours of a possible chartist rising and previous violence elsewhere, following the earlier arrest of chartist leader henry vincent and his imprisonment at the gaol in monmouth, meant that the authorities had suspected there might be a riot. the sheer scale of the rising, however was not fully appreciated until 3 november, the day before the riot. the authorities then quickly started to prepare. the mayor of newport thomas phillips had sworn in 500 special constables and asked for more troops to be sent. there were about 60 soldiers stationed in newport already, and he gathered 32 soldiers of the 45th (nottinghamshire) regiment of foot in the westgate hotel where the chartist prisoners were held.