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Historical Re-enactment » Events and Festivals » Festa del Timbaler del Bruc

Festa del Timbaler del Bruc


Població: El Bruc (Anoia)
Dates: 07-06-2008 / 08-06-2008
Època: Època Contemporània
Pàgina web: http://

Every year in early June the town of El Bruc remembers the facts that took place in the outskirts of the village during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

 

The Napoleonic Wars (in Catalonia called War of the French and in Spain War of the Independence) started in Catalonia in 1808 with the arrival of Napoleonic troops and ended in 1814 with the return of king Ferdinand VII forced to abdication.

 

The first French troops set foot in Catalonia on 9th February 1808 commanded by generals Duhesme and Chabran, among others, and occupying strong and strategic positions (castles of Sant Ferran in Figueres and Montjuïc, in Barcelona).

 

Tension and serious local battles soon started. On 6th June 1808 a French regiment of some 3.800 men under brigadier Schwartz's orders was sent from El Bruc to Manresa. Before arriving to Can Massana they were ambushed and attacked by several forces: a bunch of soldiers of Swiss regiment nº 1 Ludvig Wimpffen, allies of the Spanish Crown, a few deserters, Sometents (local defenders) from Manresa and Igualada, Miquelets (irregular light infantry troops) from Lleida and Cervera, and soldiers and artillerymen arrived from Barcelona.  All in all, there were some 2.000 men. The battle ended with the French troops shamefully withdrawing after losing some 300 men, a piece of artillery and 60 horses.

 

The ambush was perfectly planned by professional soldiers, aided by a leading minority of non-professional fighters (manufacturers from Manresa and Igualada and clergymen like the vicar of Sallent himself). The triumph, therefore, was not due to a spontaneous action carried out by encouraged farmers or a heroic child drummer, as the legend related years later. Moreover, the troops of brigadier Schwartz were all Italian and Swis soldiers, probably less motivated than their French counterparts. The Catalan forces played quite a remarkable role and the toughest confrontation and fate of the battle fell between the Somaten (local defenders) and the line infantry troops of Regiment nº 1 Ludvig Wimpffen.

 

The French Army prepared an act of vengeance. On 14th June a second battle took place and ended up in a new defeat for the French troops commanded by General Joseph Chabran. These defeats helped bury the myth The Grande Armée was invincible.

 

Since year 2000, the town of El Bruc remembers the two heroic victories in a powerful and emotional festival where history is replayed to the full. Visitors will enjoy street shows, an accurate setting and depictions of local defenders (the Sometents), French troops and even a Napoleonic camp. In the 2007 edition several Spanish and French Napoleonic re-enactment groups were present, among them: