In the Battle of Bailén (1808) General Castaños inflicted the first major defeat on the Napoleonic army, under the command of General Dupont , which meant a huge number of prisoners who were taken to Cádiz with the promise of being returned to France. They were held on pontoon boats (boats that, moored at the port, served as a prison) in unfortunate conditions but with the hope of returning home.
Under pressure from the English military, it was agreed not to return them to France and to transfer them to the island of Mallorca. Due to the high cost of their maintenance (it is estimated that around 400,000 reais per month), the discontent of the locals and the proximity of the English base in Menorca, it was decided to transfer them to a place where they would not "disturb"... a desert island , Cabrera.
More than 7,000 French soldiers were left to fend for themselves on a rocky islet with no trace of human presence, only lizards, rabbits and goats, with no buildings except an abandoned fort, and Spanish and English ships standing guard. A supply ship arrived every four days, but soon they stopped arriving on a regular basis and had to account for the native fauna. Hunger, thirst, misery, despair… death. Many died and new batches of prisoners took their place. In 1814 the war ended and the balance was terrible, of the more than 12,000 prisoners who passed through Cabrera only about 3,000 remained.
How about reading the memoirs of one of the survivors? No, he is not 200 years old.
Laura García Gámiz she has published « When the father forgets us. Cabrera's prisoners in the War of Independence (1808-1814) « , translation of «Souvenirs de l’Empire. Les Cabrériens. Episode of the Guerre d'Espagne » by Gabriel Froger , mid-nineteenth century, in which, as he himself says, he acts as a simple copyist of the memoirs of Sebastien Boulerot (Cabrera survivor).
When the father forgets us
The protagonist begins by narrating the passage of the French troops through the Pyrenees, how they crossed the peninsula; the battle and capitulation of Bailén, the march of the prisoners to Cádiz, their stay on the pontoons; continues with the transfer of the troops to Mallorca, their stay in Palma and subsequent shipment to Cabrera, where they spent six years of misery and pain. Finally, Sébastien Boulerot describes how he spent the last few months with the officers in Ibiza to end with his release and his subsequent arrival in Marseille, where he finished the work.
Terrible scenes are described:physical aggression, torture, cannibalism, sadism, famine, madness... which contrast with those in which the human being overcomes himself thanks to generosity, friendship, courage, effort, love, perseverance. , ingenuity... All of them worthy of being mixed and shaken in the cocktail shaker of a good film script, although unfortunately, based on the harshest reality.
Source:The Napoleon Series, La Pepa today