Histories de la Guerra del Francès / My link to the Napoleonic Wars
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Fotografia feta amb una Rolleicord 1a "Polizei" (K3-541), fabricada per a la policia alemana el 1939; Carl Zeiss Triotar f3.5/75mm; positiu en color Kodak Ektachrome E100, revelat amb el kit E6 de Adox.
Ja fa molts anys que sabia que les meves arrels per part paterna venien d’Esparreguera, però fa poc varem descobrir un article d’un mitjà local d’aquesta vila del Baix Llobregat on es glossa la vida d’un cosí segón del meu pare. És una historia fascinant, ja que l’home, mort el 1972 va tenir una vida realment moguda, treballant en mil coses diferents, patint per la seva vida durant la guerra civil per part dels anarquistes, però alhora acabant a La Model durant la postguerra com a “desafecto al regimen”.
Entre altres detalls, n’hi ha un de força interessant per a mí, ja que menciona que el seu avi provenia de Can Santjoan, al nord d’Esparreguera, masia que encara existeix. Es molt probable que el seu avi en aquest cas fos també besavi del meu pare, i re-revesavi meu. Per tant, tot i que no ho puc confirmar, tinc part de les arrels en aquesta masia.
El més curiós es que aquest parent menciona una historia familiar del seu revesavi en aquesta masia durant les guerres napoleòniques. Recordeu que El Bruc es troba a pocs quilometres d’aquí, pel que la presencia de soldats francesos per la zona és segura. Esparreguera mateixa fou completament saquejada per la divisió del general Chabran. Doncs deia la memoria familiar que uns soldats saquejaren el mas, i molt en concret les botes de ví, que punxaren amb les baionetes per a emborratxar-se. Doncs bé, el (meu?) avantpassat ho va veure tot amagat en una barraca de la vinya propera a la casa i, quan el darrer soldat marxava ja, probablement prou begut, apunta amb l’escopeta per un forat de la barraca i, bon caçador com era, el matà d’un tret. Posteriorment va enterrar el cos en un marge i segons el cosí del meu pare, el seu avi bé hi trobà anys després un cadaver i fins i tot un sable.
Doncs bé, vet aquí les ruines d’una barraca enmig dels camps abandonats DAVANT el Mas Santjoan. Vès que no sigui aquesta la barraca i fins hi tot el forat per on fou mort el soldat de Napoleó!
ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_Santjoan
invarquit.cultura.gencat.cat/card/18498
esparreguera.cat/ciutat/coneix-esparreguera/historia/
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Picture taken with a Rolleicord 1a "Polizei" (K3-541), made for the German police in 1939; Carl Zeiss Triotar f3.5/75mm; Kodak Ektachrome E100 color slide, developed with the Adox E6 kit.
I have known for many years that my paternal family came from the Catalan town of Esparreguera, about 30 km away from my hometown Sabadell, but recently we discovered an old article in a local media outlet that chronicles the life of a second cousin of my father. It is a fascinating story, as the man, who died in 1972, had a truly eventful life, working in a thousand different things, suffering for his life during the civil war at the hands of anarchists, but also ending up in La Model prison during the Francoist regime as a “disaffection to the regime”.
On of the most interesting details mentions that his grandfather came from Can Santjoan, a farmhouse that still exists north of Esparreguera. It is very likely that his grandfather in this case was also my father's great-grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather. Therefore, although I cannot confirm it, I probably have some of my heritage from this farmhouse. The most curious thing is that this relative mentions a family story of his great-grandfather in this farmhouse during the Napoleonic Wars. Remember that El Bruc battlefield (1808) is a few kilometers from here, so the presence of French soldiers in the area is certain. This family story tells that some soldiers looted the farmhouse, and more specifically the wine barrels, which they pierced with bayonets to get drunk. Then (my?) ancestor saw it all hidden in a hut in the vineyard near the house and, when the last soldier was leaving, probably quite drunk, he pointed his musket through a hole in the hut and, good hunter as he was, killed the soldier with one shot. He later buried the body in a field and according to my father's cousin, his grandfather found a corpse and even a saber there decades later.
Well, here are the ruins of a field hut in the middle of the abandoned fields IN FRONT of Mas Santjoan. Let's see if this is the hut and even the hole in the wall through which the Napoleon's soldier was killed!
Histories de la Guerra del Francès / My link to the Napoleonic Wars
IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE
Fotografia feta amb una Rolleicord 1a "Polizei" (K3-541), fabricada per a la policia alemana el 1939; Carl Zeiss Triotar f3.5/75mm; positiu en color Kodak Ektachrome E100, revelat amb el kit E6 de Adox.
Ja fa molts anys que sabia que les meves arrels per part paterna venien d’Esparreguera, però fa poc varem descobrir un article d’un mitjà local d’aquesta vila del Baix Llobregat on es glossa la vida d’un cosí segón del meu pare. És una historia fascinant, ja que l’home, mort el 1972 va tenir una vida realment moguda, treballant en mil coses diferents, patint per la seva vida durant la guerra civil per part dels anarquistes, però alhora acabant a La Model durant la postguerra com a “desafecto al regimen”.
Entre altres detalls, n’hi ha un de força interessant per a mí, ja que menciona que el seu avi provenia de Can Santjoan, al nord d’Esparreguera, masia que encara existeix. Es molt probable que el seu avi en aquest cas fos també besavi del meu pare, i re-revesavi meu. Per tant, tot i que no ho puc confirmar, tinc part de les arrels en aquesta masia.
El més curiós es que aquest parent menciona una historia familiar del seu revesavi en aquesta masia durant les guerres napoleòniques. Recordeu que El Bruc es troba a pocs quilometres d’aquí, pel que la presencia de soldats francesos per la zona és segura. Esparreguera mateixa fou completament saquejada per la divisió del general Chabran. Doncs deia la memoria familiar que uns soldats saquejaren el mas, i molt en concret les botes de ví, que punxaren amb les baionetes per a emborratxar-se. Doncs bé, el (meu?) avantpassat ho va veure tot amagat en una barraca de la vinya propera a la casa i, quan el darrer soldat marxava ja, probablement prou begut, apunta amb l’escopeta per un forat de la barraca i, bon caçador com era, el matà d’un tret. Posteriorment va enterrar el cos en un marge i segons el cosí del meu pare, el seu avi bé hi trobà anys després un cadaver i fins i tot un sable.
Doncs bé, vet aquí les ruines d’una barraca enmig dels camps abandonats DAVANT el Mas Santjoan. Vès que no sigui aquesta la barraca i fins hi tot el forat per on fou mort el soldat de Napoleó!
ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_Santjoan
invarquit.cultura.gencat.cat/card/18498
esparreguera.cat/ciutat/coneix-esparreguera/historia/
=================================================
Picture taken with a Rolleicord 1a "Polizei" (K3-541), made for the German police in 1939; Carl Zeiss Triotar f3.5/75mm; Kodak Ektachrome E100 color slide, developed with the Adox E6 kit.
I have known for many years that my paternal family came from the Catalan town of Esparreguera, about 30 km away from my hometown Sabadell, but recently we discovered an old article in a local media outlet that chronicles the life of a second cousin of my father. It is a fascinating story, as the man, who died in 1972, had a truly eventful life, working in a thousand different things, suffering for his life during the civil war at the hands of anarchists, but also ending up in La Model prison during the Francoist regime as a “disaffection to the regime”.
On of the most interesting details mentions that his grandfather came from Can Santjoan, a farmhouse that still exists north of Esparreguera. It is very likely that his grandfather in this case was also my father's great-grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather. Therefore, although I cannot confirm it, I probably have some of my heritage from this farmhouse. The most curious thing is that this relative mentions a family story of his great-grandfather in this farmhouse during the Napoleonic Wars. Remember that El Bruc battlefield (1808) is a few kilometers from here, so the presence of French soldiers in the area is certain. This family story tells that some soldiers looted the farmhouse, and more specifically the wine barrels, which they pierced with bayonets to get drunk. Then (my?) ancestor saw it all hidden in a hut in the vineyard near the house and, when the last soldier was leaving, probably quite drunk, he pointed his musket through a hole in the hut and, good hunter as he was, killed the soldier with one shot. He later buried the body in a field and according to my father's cousin, his grandfather found a corpse and even a saber there decades later.
Well, here are the ruins of a field hut in the middle of the abandoned fields IN FRONT of Mas Santjoan. Let's see if this is the hut and even the hole in the wall through which the Napoleon's soldier was killed!