Arrifana in History of Peninsular War ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ. LL.D. MDCCCXXVIII. A party of disbanded militia, with a Portuguese Lieutenant-Colonel at their head, surprised a chefdescadron near the village of Arrifana, and killed him and three dragoons of his escort. He was one of the Lameth family, so noted in the first stage of the French revolution; and having been Soults aide-de-camp, had served in the Peninsula with a zeal which could never have been employed in a worse cause. Having been a favorite with the commander and his staff, it was determined to take vengeance for his death; it had taken place in a part of the country of which they had military possession, and they thought proper therefore to consider it as an action not conformable to the laws of war. General Thomieres, who had been accustomed to such services, was sent to inflict what the French called an exemplary and imposing chastisement, . . Not upon the individuals concerned, for they were doing their duty elsewhere in defence of their country, but upon the people of Arrifana indiscriminately. A French detachment accordingly entered the village at daybreak, seized twenty-four of the inhabitants, April 17. marched them into a field, and, having tied them in couples back to back, fired upon them till they were all killed. The rest of the villagers, …brethren and sisters, parents, wives, and children, were compelled to be spectators of this butchery; the village was then set on fire, and many of the women and girls carried into an Ermida or chapel, and there violated. ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ. LL.D. MDCCCXXVIII.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:28:15 +0000