The Mas Garbí

On February 3, 1874, a platoon of volunteers from the 16th Infantry Battalion of the Carlist Catalan army en route from Hostalric to join the siege of Santa Coloma de Farners was held off by a hailstorm at the Mas Garbí. The masovers (farm tenants), though loyal to the republic, knew better than to deny them shelter. The troops ransacked the pantries and terrorized the women and children, except for an old woman by the hearth, clad in tattered robes and a cowl, whom they assumed to be deaf after...