At this point, the farmers' emotions inevitably grew somber, with some having tears welling in their eyes.
"You don't really understand what we've been through. On December 23rd of that year, my father and two brothers were massacred in the Savona Marshes in Lower Loire, along with my mother and sister. They not only raised their butcher knives against the warriors but also executed the families accompanying our army.
Francois Westerman, that butcher, proudly wrote to the National Assembly afterward, saying: 'The Vendee rebels no longer exist. I have just buried them in the Savona Marshes. As per orders, I trampled the children under horse's hoofs and slaughtered the women. I left no prisoners to accuse me; I had them all exterminated.'
