Remexido

Remexido, the nickname of José Joaquim de Sousa Reis (19 October 1796 – 2 August 1838), was a civil servant and wealthy heir and land tenant who became a notorious guerrilla leader of the Algarve in Portugal, defending the rights of King Miguel to the Portuguese throne and the antiliberal absolute monarchy in the Kingdom of Portugal. He was accused of several crimes, which made him famous and feared by then, although some studies suggest Remexido did not commit them at all or in part. He was the son of Joaquim José dos Reis and wife Clara Maria do Carmo da Rocha, both born in Estômbar, in the municipality of Lagoa, and died before a firing squad at the Campo da Trindade (site of the present school hall of the Tomás Cabreira Secondary School) in Faro on 2 August 1838.

He served as a supporter of the absolutist status quo personified by Miguel of Portugal under General Tomás Cabreira at the Battle of Sant'Ana, during the Liberal Wars (1828–1834). After the defeat of absolutist forces and the victory of liberalism in Portugal in 1834, Remechido didn't surrender and found himself savagely persecuted. He took refuge in the mountains of the Algarve supported by some mountain people in and around São Marcos da Serra, in Silves Municipality. Resorting to guerrilla tactics, he systematically thrashed the government forces. To discover his whereabouts, the government forces publicly interrogated his wife with physical punishments and when she would not betray him, killed his 14-year-old son, two actions which made him resolve never to surrender and to punish those who had wronged him. He was, however, captured and brought for judgment before the Council of War. Even in his last days, he was the victim of injustice: although Queen Maria II of Portugal granted him a pardon, for political and personal reasons the Council of War nevertheless sent him to his death before a firing squad. [biased-discuss]