The death of General Constantine De Saa
View(s):Once the mercenary armies fled, the Portuguese had to fight alone. Suddenly, a heavy shower came down. Their weapons got wet. The soldiers who went in front managed to cross the river. Suddenly, the river started overflowing. The rest of the soldiers could not cross the river.
The Sinhala soldiers who, were lying in ambush there, killed the Portuguese soldiers. Another group was arrested. The balance mercenary soldiers, being helpless, allowed the Portuguese to do as they wished. On the following morning, that is the 25th of August, the General received a proposal.
That was from the enemy soldiers.
The proposal was a request to surrender. But the General rejected that proposal. He thought of fighting till the death of his last soldier. So the fighting resumed. It continued from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. During this period, about 350 soldiers had to die.
More than 100 men were arrested. The General who, was struck by an arrow fell down in the battle field. The enemy who witnessed this, rushed to the scene, to cut off his head. The shot released by one of the soldiers who was trying to save the General, misfired.
That shot hit the General and he died instantly. A group of the balance soldiers was killed by the Sinhala soldiers. Another group was imprisoned. This caused the complete defeat of the Portuguese army. However, King Senarat did not take part in this battle.
By Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by Kamala Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila