ASSOCIATION 13 DE SETEMBRO DE 1913

Re-enacting the Lines

The Historical Route of the Lines of Torres Vedras is deeply gratified for the work carried out by the Association 13 de Setembro de 1913, namely by its historical recreation groups, “Guerrilha de Montagraço” and “Companhia de Artilharia de Sobral”, unique in the entire territory of the Lines Torres Vedras, as well as in the country, and which so well represent the impact of the French Invasions in Portugal.

Legally constituted in April 1999, the Associação de Cultura e Recreio 13 de Setembro de 1913 has several years of work dedicated to culture. At its root are the numerous Comissões de Festa that, for more than a hundred years, organized the Festival and the Sobral de Monte Agraço Summer Fair. For this reason, the name of the association was inspired by the date of the first Festivals - September 13, 1913 - from which it has been building its identity.

For several decades, most of the action developed by the association was absorbed by the preparation of the Festival. The organization of a week of cultural and recreational activities, translated into dozens of events that sought a balance between tradition and innovation, took up most of his time. In addition to organization and planning, many activities were also carried out directly by the association itself: among them, the decoration of the Rua da Liberdade with paper flowers, the scenic recreations and the floats of the historic and ethnographic procession through the streets of the village, the Festivals’ book-keeping and all the logistics that an organization of this size required.

The Sobral de Monte Agraço festivities were supported, in the course of their long existence, by local authorities and by hundreds of volunteers. However, in late 2014, the municipality of Sobral de Monte Agraço called for the organization of the local festivals. Left without its great annual project, the association had to rediscover its memories and reinvent itself. Keeping the amateur theatre group TrezEATRO, the association awoke to new projects. The first to be born was a traditional percussion group called Treze a Rufar. The project allows for the free learning of the drum and snare instruments. Currently, the group is made up of 20 young adults and takes part in various entertainment and street activities.

However, the activities promoted by the association have always reflected the culture and identity of the people of Sobral de Monte Agraço and the region in which they operate. This “genetic mark” was not lost with the project of creating a group of historical recreation that represented the contribution of the people's role, so often forgotten, in the defeat of the Napoleonic troops during the third French invasion. The idea developed based on an activity organized on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Lines of Torres Vedras, in 2010, when the association organized a parade and fight that counted with the participation of Spanish recreators from La Albuera, Arroyomolinos and Bailén, and the Portuguese recreation group Magotes de Santo Antão.

Taking into account the role played by Sobral de Monte Agraço and the great entrenchment of Alqueidão in the defence of Lisbon during the third invasion, as well as its contribution to the defeat of Massena against the Lines of Torres, the group of historical recreation Guerrilha de Montagraço was born.

After a thorough search of data and analysis of the sources produced at the time by both sides of the conflict, the immense, and at times decisive, importance of people's action in the outcome of the Peninsular War became evident.

The terror spread by French troops, as well as the devastating “scorched earth” policy imposed by Wellington on the Portuguese people, brought an immense suffering and deprivation upon the population which, from Leiria to the front of the Lines, fled, in a huge exodus, to the interior of the defensive lines and to Lisbon, seeking the protection of the Anglo-Portuguese Army.

Although they did not depend exclusively on the military and their orders, the militias and guerrillas acted in coordination with them, for the benefit of both. The people, who had a deep and natural knowledge of the terrain, resulting in enormous and effective mobility, acted by surprise, through ambushes, especially to the rear of the invading troops. They took prisoners, sabotaged paths and bridges and poisoned drinking water fountains and wells, being called “force multipliers”. These are the actions that the Guerrilha de Montagraço started to recreate.

Their studies and research brought the association the essential security to recreate a guerrilla group as historically faithful as possible. The guerrilla costume testifies to this work. It is made of surrobeco fabric, wool felts, sackcloth, cotton, and litter, and their colours have been fully respected, with no designs or prints on them. The guerrilheiras (women) wear a blouse of raw cloth, a fabric bodice with leather ties, in the same colour of the skirts, a white petticoat, a working skirt and a skirt that comes snug with a strap, and / or a leather belt, skirts bars with the colours changed. The socks are white, cotton or thread and the shoes or boots are leather. On the head they wear coloured scarves, and some of them, over the scarf, wear straw hats or saloon caps. The guerrilheiros, on the other hand, wear a cloth shirt, very long, fastened with leather ties and a jacket. At the bottom they use trapdoor shorts, slightly below the knee, showing the long-leaf ruffle, also made of raw cloth, a white cotton sock or thread or sock. They wear shoes or boots, with or without a high top, made of soapy leather, tied with leather straps. They cover their heads with wide-brimmed hats or caps.

The people, as a general rule, did not have firearms at their disposal, making use of what was “at hand”, that is, tools and agricultural implements with which they tilled the land, as well as occasional weapons, such as showers, pikes, scythe of various types and sizes, pitchforks, forks, and poles.

The guerrilla group uses, for personal or group use, various everyday objects, such as wicker baskets, burlap or raw-cloth bags, clay bowls, gourds and horns to transport beverages, and iron knives or knives with wooden, horn or bone handles. In the various bandages, only sisal cord, tow or leather straps are used.

The guerrilla also recreates the way of life of the people in the camp, which they assemble on wooden sticks and raw cloth, with a wooden table and benches made of tree trunks or straw packs. At the camp, they cook the sopa de sustança (‘sustenance soup’) in a three-foot iron pot, and the fillets are fried in oil over a wood fire. The region's wine is served with the meal.

During the various recreations in which they have participated, both in Portugal and Spain, the desire arose to complement with a military group the historical recreation of the period of the Napoleonic wars in the Iberian Peninsula. This is how the Sobral Artillery Company was born in 2018, based on the documents in which the order for the formation of two Artillery Ordinance Companies in Sobral by William Beresford, Supreme Commander of the Portuguese Army, is cited.

At the same time, the newly created group was accepted by the Portuguese Napoleonic Association (ANP), as an effective member and in compliance with its rules, all the recreational players did their training at the Escola do Soldado, and their action was followed, over a year, by the artillery officers of the ANP groups, until they were deemed suitable for handling artillery pieces as an autonomous group. The practical training of artillerymen was carried out in collaboration with the Historical Recreation Group of the Municipality of Almeida, owners of the artillery pieces used in training. Currently, all members of the group have the license to use and carry a class F weapon and are able to carry out the arms drill of the time.

In 2019, through a partnership established between the municipality of Sobral de Monte Agraço and the Associação 13 de Setembro de 1913, the much desired piece of artillery was acquired. The municipality purchased a cannon, made of CrNi steel machined with the application of dolphins and cartouches of D. Maria I. Two of the artillerymen from the Companhia de Artilharia de Sobral carried out the field repair (made of wood, with cart wheels) , iron fittings, painted in grey and black fittings), as well as palamentas and gunpowder box.

The uniform of the Artilheiros de Sobral consists of a white shirt and waistcoat, trousers with a trapdoor, and dolman in honey brown serrobeco, with black cannons and collar bordered in red. Golden brass buttons are placed in front of the dolman and on the sleeves. The uniform also includes the neck and planes made of black fabric. The shoes or boots are in black leather. The head is covered by the ‘police’ cap, in honey brown serrobeco, with red stripe and tassel in brown and red wool, or by the Portuguese model of the barretina, in black felt, high, and with yellow brass garnet application on the front. The artillerymen use crude cloth nosebags, where they transport the provisions, and have, for personal defence, terçados.

In 2020, the group was enriched with two more members and acquired the flag of the Companhia de Artilharia de Sobral (CAS). The flag is based on the original flag of the Infantry Regiment 24, from the collection of Pedro Soares Branco. On the white listel is written COMPANHIA DE ARTILHARIA SOBRAL DE MONTE AGRAÇO and the corners are embroidered with JPR (João, Príncipe Regente). It was also possible to purchase three original Brown Bess rifles, which will be used by the artillerymen accompanying the artillery piece. They are not part of the garrison and their function is to guard the artillery piece.

At this time, the historical recreation groups of the Associação 13 de Setembro de 1913 is made up of about 50 members, civil and military, aged between 5 and 85 years old.

The groups have participated in several events of the Historical Route of the Lines of Torres, namely in the Commemorations of the National Day of the Lines of Torres in Sobral de Monte Agraço, with special involvement in the historical recreation Crónica de uma quase-batalha (‘Chronicle of an almost-battle’), that took place in the Alqueidão fort, in 2018. They have been making recreations throughout the national territory, for example at the Festival Nova Invasões (Torres Vedras), at the Wine Festival (Bucelas), the Battle of Vimeiro (Lourinhã), as well as the Siege of Praça de Almeida (Almeida), the Combate do Casal Novo (Condeixa) and in the 19th Century Market (Bombarral). In Spain they have already participated in the recreations of La Albuera, Ciudad Rodrigo, Arroyomolinos and Astorga.

The association has the desire to see more and more people interested in the theme of historical recreation and join their groups, so that it can reinforce its mission of publicizing one of the most troubled and determining times in the history of Portugal - a period in which, while struggling to maintain its independence, Portugal contributed decisively to the beginning of the fall of Napoleon's empire.