Disclaimer: These are the books and short stories written by Bernard Cornwell as well as works of fan-fiction. It is not the intention of the authors to infringe on anyone's copyright. No rights infringement intended. Warning: General Audience

BOOK# YEAR MONTH DAY TITLE SUBJECT Summary ********************************************************************************************************** 0.0 1777 6 23 aaFamilyaa Battle of Boxtel, 1780-95 Left an orphan. Sold to sweep. Runs away twice. Kills two men. Joins the army. Fights first battle. ********************************************************************************************************** 0.3 1796 7 aa00.25Trekaa South Africa It is the spring of 1796 Richard Sharpe is on his way to India with his regiment, the 33rd foot. On the way, they stop to support the garrison of the Cape Colony. A Dutch force had eluded the Royal Navy blockade of the Texel and was en route to attempt to take the Cape Colony for the Batavian Republic. When the Dutch force is sighted at Saldanha Bay ninety miles to the north, General Craig marches to intercept them. On the march, Sharpe must deal with his new company sergeant, Obadiah Hakeswill and the hazards of the march. Hakeswill is determined to bully Sharpe and Sharpe’s friends. ********************************************************************************************************** 0.5 1797 9 aa00.5Islandaa Malaysia Sails with Manila expedition. Learns about boat landings. ********************************************************************************************************** 1.0 1799 3 26 Tiger Siege of Seringapatam, 1799 Posing as a deserter, Sharpe must penetrate into the Tippoo's city and make contact with a Scottish spy being held prisoner there. Success will mean winning his sergeant stripes; failure, being turned over to the Tippoo's brutal executioners — or his man-eating tigers. Picking his way through an exotic and alien world, one slip will mean disaster as Sharpe learns that he must fight his old comrades in order to save his own neck. Along the way, he keeps an eye out for Mysore's beautiful prostitutes, any stray loot he can get his hands on and the chance to learn his ABC's. But when the furious British assault on the city begins, Sharpe must fight with the fierceness and agility of a tiger himself to foil the Tippoo's well-set trap — and to keep from being killed by his own side Richard Sharpe is a private in the 33rd Regiment of Foot in the British army. The British invade Mysore and advance on the Tippoo Sultan's capital city of Seringapatam. Sharpe is contemplating desertion with his paramour, half-caste army widow Mary Bickerstaff, due to his sadistic company sergeant, Obadiah Hakeswill. Hakeswill lusts after Mary, so he provokes Sharpe into hitting him before witnesses, company commander Captain Morris and Ensign Hicks. Sharpe is court-martialled; Lieutenant William Lawford, who is supposed to act as his defender, is absent and Sharpe is given the virtual death sentence of 2,000 lashes. However, the regiment's commander, Colonel Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington), halts the punishment at just over 200 lashes. Lawford has been offered an extremely dangerous mission and has requested Sharpe. Sharpe agrees to go along if he is made a sergeant if they are successful. Lawford and Sharpe pose as deserters to try to rescue Colonel Hector McCandless, Lawford's uncle and chief of the British East India Company's intelligence service. Sharpe's flogging inadvertently makes their cover story more plausible. Sharpe quickly takes charge and brings Mary along, to protect her from Hakeswill and because she speaks several of the native languages. They are soon captured by scouts from the Tippoo's army and taken to Seringapatam where they meet Colonel Gudin, a French military adviser to the Tippoo. During their interrogation, the Tippoo enters and orders them to load muskets. He then orders Sharpe to shoot a British prisoner, Colonel McCandless; he does, having noticed that the "gunpowder" he has been given is fake. The musket does not fire. After covertly telling McCandless that he is a spy, he is told by McCandless that the British must not attack the seemingly weakest portion of the city walls. (It is later revealed that the Tippoo has had mines buried there to blow up the British when they enter the trap.) Lawford and Sharpe join Gudin's troops, whilst Mary is sent to work as a servant in the household of one of the Tippoo's generals, Appah Rao, a Hindu who, unknown to the Muslim Tippoo, is considering switching sides. As they search for their contact, a merchant who can pass along the vital warning to the besieging British forces. Gudin tests the pair further, giving them rifled fowling guns (Sharpe's first exposure to a rifled weapon instead of a smoothbore musket). Sharpe's shot is slightly high, but Lawford, to his mortification, ends up hitting a British scout. As a further test, Sharpe helps defend a Mysore encampment which is attacked by the British. During the attack, Sharpe encounters Hakeswill and tries to kill him, but is stopped by Gudin, who wants prisoners. Back in Seringapatam, Hakeswill spots Lawford in the crowd, but does not betray him (yet). Sharpe is rewarded for his actions by the Tippoo and is allowed to visit Mary. He finds that she is attracted to one of Appah Rao's men, Kunwar Singh, news which Sharpe takes in good grace. Meanwhile, the Tippoo orders the prisoners executed by his personal bodyguard, the fearsome Jettis, but spares Hakeswill when the sergeant betrays Lawford and Sharpe. The two are captured and Sharpe is tortured until Lawford reveals their mission. Gudin then tells them that the spy they sought in the city had been killed weeks before and fed to the Tippoo's pet tigers. They are then imprisoned with McCandless and Hakeswill. During their imprisonment, Lawford teaches Sharpe to read and write to make him a more effective sergeant. After days of bombardment, the British finally breach the wall and prepare to attack. With the assault imminent, Appah Rao orders Kunwar Singh to free McCandless, whilst the Tippoo orders Sharpe, Lawford and McCandless executed as a sacrifice to ensure his victory. Mary accompanies Singh and helps Sharpe escape. Sharpe, accompanied by Lawford, then sets the mine off prematurely. As a result, many of the Tippoo's best soldiers are killed or stunned, and the British enter the breach in the walls. Rao decides to abandon the Tippoo and withdraws his men. Sharpe returns to Hakeswill and throws him to the Tippoo's tigers, hoping they will eat the sergeant (though they inexplicably ignore him). Sharpe then encounters the Tippoo, who is trying to flee the city, kills him and loots his corpse. The British capture the city and restore the Hindu rajah to the throne, as a British puppet ruler. Sharpe carefully takes no credit for killing the Tippoo to avoid having to surrender the jewels he looted. ********************************************************************************************************** 2.0 1803 8 3 Triumph Battle of Assaye, September 1803 Witnesses a murderous act of treachery by an English officer who has defected from the East India Company to join the mercenary army of the Mahratta Confederation. In the hunt for the renegade Englishman, penetrates deep into the enemy's territory where he faces temptations more subtle than he has ever dreamed of. And behind him, relentlessly stalking him, comes his worst enemy, the baleful, twitching Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill who is determined to break Sharpe once and for all. The paths of treachery all lead to the small village of Assaye where Sir Arthur Wellesley, with a tiny British army, faces the Mahratta horde. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wellesley decides to fight, and Sharpe is plunged into the white heat of a battle that will make Wellesley's reputation. It will make Sharpe's name to, but only if he can survive the carnage and killing frenzy, for it is at Assaye that he at last realizes his ambition and has a chance to seize it. Sergeant Richard Sharpe and a small detachment arrive at an isolated East India Company fort to transport 80,000 recovered rounds of stolen ammunition to the armory at Seringapatam. Whilst Sharpe and his men rest, a company of East India Company sepoys arrive under the command of Lieutenant William Dodd. Dodd abruptly has his men massacre the unsuspecting, outnumbered garrison. Sharpe is wounded and feigns death, allowing him to escape Dodd's determination to leave no witnesses. Back in Seringapatam, Sharpe's friend, Colonel McCandless, whom Sharpe met a couple of years earlier during the siege of Seringapatam (Sharpe's Tiger), questions him about Dodd. Dodd deserted the East India Company, taking with him his sepoys, and McCandless has been tasked with bringing him to justice, lest it give others similar ideas. McCandless orders Sharpe to accompany him since he can identify Dodd. Dodd joins Colonel Anthony Pohlmann, commander of Daulat Scindia's army, at the city of Ahmednuggur and is rewarded with a promotion to major and command of his own battalion. Since the Mysore Campaign, the British have been pushing further north into the Maratha Confederacy's territory. Scinda is one of the Maratha rulers who have decided to resist the British advance. Scinda orders Pohlmann to assign a regiment to defend Ahmednuggur, so Pohlmann gives Dodd command of the unit and instructions to inflict casualties on the British, but most importantly, withdraw and keep the regiment intact. Meanwhile, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill correctly guesses that Sharpe killed the Tippoo Sultan four years earlier at Seringapatam and looted the corpse. Hakeswill frames him for an attack on his former company commander, Captain Morris. Given a warrant to arrest Sharpe, Hakeswill recruits six cutthroats to help him murder Sharpe, so they can steal the treasure. Sharpe and McCandless travel to the British army, escorted by Syud Sevajee, the Maratha leader of a band of mercenary cavalrymen working for the East India Company. They reach the army, now under the command of Major General Arthur Wellesley, Sharpe's former regimental commander and the future Duke of Wellington. Upon arrival at Ahmednuggur, Wellesley quickly launches a risky escalade without the usual days-long artillery bombardment, in a bid to take the enemy by surprise. He quickly captures the poorly fortified town, to the amazement of Dodd, who has a poor opinion of Wellesley. Despite this, Dodd manages to extract his troops from the rout and retreats to Pohlmann's army, much to McCandless's anger. In the chaos of the battle, Sharpe rescues Simone Joubert, the French-Mauritian wife of a French officer in Dodd's regiment. Under the pretext of returning Madame Joubert to her husband, McCandless hopes to be able to reconnoitre the Maratha army. They do not leave immediately, however, and Sharpe spends the night in Ahmednuggur with Simone. The next day, they reach the Maratha army. Pohlmann deduces McCandless's real intentions, but knowing that his army vastly outnumbers the British, allows McCandless to see everything he wants. At the same time, Pohlmann tries to recruit Sharpe, offering to make him a lieutenant. He tells Sharpe of the various successes that lowly Europeans have had in India, including his own rise from East India Company sergeant to commander of Scinda's army. That evening, Sharpe considers defecting, but, before he can make a decision, his and McCandless's horses are stolen, with McCandless being wounded. Sharpe apprehends one of the thieves, who turns out to be one of Dodd's men. Both Sharpe and Pohlmann suspect that Dodd ordered the theft, but Pohlmann only has the thief executed. Meanwhile, Hakeswill takes his request to arrest Sharpe to Wellesley, who informs him that Sharpe will not return for some time. He assigns Hakeswill to the baggage train in the meantime, infuriating the impatient sergeant. The Maratha army moves on, leaving McCandless behind, at his own request. Sharpe decides to look after the wounded colonel, which he uses as a reason to refuse Pohlmann's offer. Nevertheless, he begins to wonder about how he might become an officer. Recognizing the ambition Pohlmann has stoked in the sergeant, McCandless cautions Sharpe. At the time, almost all of the officers in the British Army came from wealthy families and paid for their commissions. Those exceptional few who rose from the ranks were resented and had little chance of advancement. Whilst McCandless recovers, Syud Sevajee locates them and delivers McCandless's report to Wellesley. When McCandless is recovered enough, he and Sharpe rejoin the army as it advances towards Borkardan. Using some of the Tippoo's jewels, Sharpe buys one of Wellesley's horses for McCandless, though he pretends to Wellesley that McCandless is the purchaser. The surprised McCandless learns about Sharpe and the Tippoo's death. The next day, Hakeswill attempts to arrest Sharpe, but McCandless smudges the ink on the warrant so that it reads "Sharp", not "Sharpe", and refuses to let him take Sharpe. After weeks of aimless marching, the Maratha leaders meet and finally decide to engage the British near Assaye. Pohlmann is given overall command. The British have two forces, one under the command of Wellesley and the other under Colonel Stevenson. Pohlmann plans to fight and defeat them separately, before they can join forces. Wellesley discovers that the enemy is closer than he thought and fully aware of the situation, but is still determined to attack. Pohlmann sets a trap. He deploys his army at what he is told is the only usable ford of the River Kaitna, but Wellesley deduces that there must be another one between two villages on opposite banks of the river. Using the second ford, Wellesley crosses the river to try to launch a flank attack, but Pohlmann redeploys to face him. Wellesley's aide is killed, and Sharpe takes his place. Back with the baggage, McCandless confronts Hakeswill about the warrant and warns Hakeswill that he knows he lied and that he will inform his commander. On the British left, the 78th Highland Regiment and the sepoys advance through heavy artillery fire and rout much of the Maratha infantry. On the right, however, the 74th and some picquets advance too far towards the village of Assaye and are forced to form square against attack from Maratha light cavalry. Dodd's regiment then attacks the two pinned-down units. Meanwhile, some Maratha gunners retake their guns and fire them into the rear of Wellesley's men, so Wellesley orders a cavalry charge. During the fight, he is unhorsed alone amidst the enemy. Sharpe launches a savage attack, saving his commander and single-handedly killing many men. Friendly troops arrive, and a shaken Wellesley leaves. With the collapse of the Maratha right, Dodd is forced to retreat. Hakeswill finds McCandless alone and kills him to save himself. As the Maratha forces flee in disarray, Sharpe comes across Pohlmann, but does not apprehend him. He also finds Simone Joubert. Dodd killed her husband during the retreat, so Sharpe takes her under his protection. Eventually, he catches up to Wellesley's staff and is astonished when Wellesley rewards him by giving him a battlefield promotion, making him an ensign in the 74th. Afterward, Hakeswill tries again to arrest Sharpe, but Sharpe's new commanding officer points out that the warrant for Sergeant Sharpe is useless against Ensign Sharpe. Sharpe forces Hakeswill, who initially refuses to acknowledge Sharpe's new rank, to address him as "sir". ********************************************************************************************************** 3.0 1803 11 29 Fortress Siege of Gawilghur, December, 1803 uncovers a foul treason and seeks revenge. In 1803, Arthur Wellesley's British and sepoy army is in pursuit of the Mahrattas in western India, having beaten them in the Battle of Assaye. Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made an officer, is beginning to wish he had remained a sergeant, as most of his fellow officers look down upon him, including Captain Urquhart, his commanding officer. Urquhart suggests he sell his commission if he is not happy. Manu Bappoo, the younger brother of the Rajah of Berar, decides to turn around and fight the British again, with his best unit, composed of Arab mercenaries, leading the charge, but he is again routed. During the fighting, Sharpe is impressed by the bravery of a teenage Arab boy, Ahmed, and saves his life when the boy is surrounded. Ahmed becomes his servant. After the battle, Urquhart reassigns Sharpe to the 95th Rifles, an experimental unit, though the transfer cannot be completed while the war rages on. For the moment, Sharpe is sent to manage the baggage train, under the command of Captain Torrance. The army is short of many desperately needed supplies, and Sharpe soon discovers why. Lazy and deeply in debt, Morris has been selling them to the merchant Naig, with the assistance of Sharpe's old nemesis, Sergeant Hakeswill. When Sharpe finds many of the stolen supplies in Naig's tent, Morris has his associate hanged immediately to avoid being implicated. Jama, Naig's brother, is not pleased, so Torrance agrees to betray Sharpe into his hands. Hakeswill is only too glad to waylay Sharpe; besides their mutual hatred, he rightly suspects that Sharpe has a fortune in jewels looted from a dead enemy ruler. Hakeswill ambushes Sharpe and takes him prisoner. He steals all of the jewels Sharpe has hidden on his person, then hands him over to Jama. Fortunately, Ahmed witnesses Sharpe's kidnapping and gets away. He finds Sharpe's friend, Syud Sevagee, who rescues him. Sharpe decides to let his enemies believe he is dead. The Mahrattas take refuge in Gawilghur, a seemingly impregnable fortress, perched high on cliffs above the Deccan Plain. Wellesley, despite his deep misgivings, has no choice but to attack anyway. Gawilghur is composed of an Outer Fort and an Inner Fort. While the Outer Fort is formidable, the Mahrattas expect the British to take it, though at heavy cost. However, the Inner Fort is so strong, they are confident it cannot fall. Once Wellesley's army has been bled dry trying to capture it, the Mahrattas plan to emerge and destroy the survivors. When two of Hakeswill's henchmen are killed, Hakeswill realises Sharpe is responsible, so he deserts and finds service with the renegade Englishman William Dodd in Gawilghur. Who rules in Gawilghur, it is said, rules India, and Dodd intends for it to be him. When the Outer Fort falls, Dodd orders the gates of the Inner Fort be kept closed, trapping Manu Bappoo outside to be killed by the British. Dodd also murders Beny Singh, the weak commander of Gawilghur. However, Sharpe finds a way into the Inner Fort, a section of the wall which is weakly defended because it sits atop a steep cliff. The cliff, however, can be scaled. When Captain Morris, Sharpe's commanding officer, refuses to give him men, Sharpe beats him, then takes charge and leads a group of soldiers inside and opens the gates. He then finds and duels with Dodd, only to find that Dodd is by far the better swordsman. It is Dodd who gives Sharpe the scar on his right cheek. Ahmed appears unexpectedly and attacks Dodd. Dodd kills him easily, but a cavalryman shoots him in the shoulder, and then Sharpe is able to kill him. Hakeswill tries to flee, disguised as a British soldier, but Sharpe finds him. Sharpe retrieves most of his jewels from him, then backs Hakeswill up until he falls into a pit filled with poisonous snakes. ********************************************************************************************************** 4.0 1805 7 Trafalgar Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 Quits India to join new regiment. Boards ship for England. Romanticizes powerful man's wife. Captured by French warship. Rescued by British warship. Defeats rich man's servant. Joins fight at Trafalgar. In 1805, Richard Sharpe is to sail to England from India aboard the East Indiaman Calliope to join the 95th Rifles. He is swindled after purchasing supplies for the voyage. After finding out, he gets not only his money back, but also helps fellow victim Royal Navy Captain Joel Chase do the same, saving Chase from great financial embarrassment. Chase wants to show his gratitude, but is under orders to destroy a French 74 named the Revenant that is raiding the Indian Ocean. The Calliope's passengers include the lovely, young Lady Grace Hale and her much older husband, Lord William Hale. Sharpe is also astonished to find aboard Anthony Pohlmann, a renegade and former Maratha warlord (defeated by Arthur Wellesley in Sharpe's Triumph), traveling under a false identity - Baron von Dornberg - but sees no reason to denounce his former foe. Peculiar Cromwell, captain of the Calliope, spots the jewels (looted from an Indian ruler) Sharpe has sewn into his clothing and insists that Sharpe leave them with him for safekeeping, to avoid tempting his crew. Sharpe becomes obsessed with Lady Grace, but his attempts to become better acquainted are unsuccessful, at first. However, she later questions him in private about "Dornberg"; while Cromwell and Dornberg denied knowing each other, she has observed them conversing frequently. Sharpe protects Dornberg as best he can. When Lady Grace gets up to leave, a sudden movement of the ship causes her to stumble, and Sharpe ends up with his arm around her waist. They eventually become secret lovers. Cromwell leaves the safety of a slow convoy with his fast ship. Lady Grace becomes worried that they are sailing near French-held Mauritius. She ends up spending the first of several nights with Sharpe. Malachi Braithwaite, Lord Hale's secretary, finds out and is angered, as he is attracted to Lady Grace too. Sharpe threatens to kill him if he tells anyone. The Revenant appears. Before the Calliope is captured, Sharpe hurries to retrieve his jewels from Cromwell's safe, but they are not there. Sharpe suspects both Cromwell and Pohlmann aided the French; both men board the Revenant. A prize crew starts sailing the Calliope to Mauritius. Later, the lieutenant in charge tries to rape Lady Grace; Sharpe goes to her rescue and kills the Frenchman in a swordfight. The French understand and do not punish Sharpe. One day, another ship is spotted. Sharpe manages to cut the tiller ropes controlling the rudder, slowing the Calliope. This enables Captain Chase's Pucelle to capture the Calliope. Chase invites Sharpe to transfer to his ship; Sharpe is reluctant to accept, until he discovers that Lord Hale has insisted on switching to the faster Pucelle, along with his wife. Chase confides to Sharpe that a French agent, probably Dornberg's "servant", negotiated a secret treaty with the ablest of the Indian Maratha leaders. If it is delivered to Paris, the French might send arms to the Marathas to start a new war against the British. Chase does everything in his power to overtake the Revenant. Sharpe trains with the Marines for shipboard fighting and is introduced to a seven-barreled Nock gun (a weapon which future friend Patrick Harper will favour). A ship is spotted. The Pucelle gives chase, but loses it. Meanwhile, Lady Grace tells Sharpe that Braithwaite is trying to blackmail her. He ambushes the man. Braithwaite produces a pistol and tries to negotiate, claiming he left a letter describing Sharpe's affair, but Sharpe kills him. When the corpse is found, people assume Braithwaite had a fatal fall. The Revenant is spotted, and a long chase commences. One night, Lady Grace hesitantly informs Sharpe that she is pregnant with his child, unsure of his reaction. He is delighted. Just when it seems that the Revenant will get away, the combined French and Spanish fleets sortie, with Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet in pursuit. The Revenant joins the enemy fleet, while the Pucelle comes under Nelson's command. When Nelson summons Chase to a meeting, Chase brings Sharpe along and introduces him to his friend the admiral. When the British attack the enemy fleet, commencing the Battle of Trafalgar, Chase points out the Revenant to Sharpe. Chase sends the Hales to safety, over Lord Hale's protest, while Sharpe joins the Marines. The Pucelle and the Revenant pound each other. The Revenant is captured. Pohlmann is killed by a cannonball. Sharpe finds the French agent and tosses him into the sea; the man cannot swim. Cromwell survives; Sharpe retrieves his jewels before reluctantly handing him over to Chase. When Sharpe goes to find Lady Grace, he discovers that she has killed her husband. While the battle was raging, Lord Hale had confronted his wife over Braithwaite's letter. He eventually told her that he would kill her and make it appear a suicide. He also promised to sabotage Sharpe's life secretly. Sharpe sees to it his body is taken up on deck so it will seem that he was killed in the fighting. Upset at first, Lady Grace realises she is now free to do as she pleases. ********************************************************************************************************** 5.0 1806 3 Prey Expedition to Copenhagen, 1807 Tries to sell his commission after lover and child die. Loveless, destitute, and relegated to the menial tasks of quartermaster. Roams the streets of London, pondering a bleak future away from the army. Then, out of the blue, an old friend invites him to undertake a secret mission—the delivery of a bribe—to the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Denmark is officially neutral, but Napoleon is threatening an invasion in order to capture the powerful Danish fleet, which would replace the ships France lost in its disastrous defeat at Trafalgar. The British, fearing such enhancement of French power, threaten their own preemptive invasion, and Sharpe, whose errand seemed so simple, is trapped in a web of treachery that will end only when the city, which thought itself safe, is subjected to a brutal and merciless bombardment The year is 1807, and Richard Sharpe is at a very low point in his life. His beloved aristocratic lover, Lady Grace Hale, has died in childbirth, along with their newborn son. Her family's lawyers then took all of Sharpe's wealth (loot he obtained fighting in India), claiming it was Grace's and that it now reverts to her family. Destitute and relegated to the menial job of quartermaster, Sharpe is on the streets of London, contemplating leaving the army. First though, he revisits the foundling home where he was raised to get his revenge. He robs and kills Jem Hocking, his childhood tormentor. Then a former commanding officer, Major General David Baird, finds him in a pub. Captain John Lavisser was assigned a bodyguard for a secret mission to Copenhagen, but the bodyguard was killed, supposedly by a common footpad, and a replacement is needed immediately. Baird persuades Sharpe to take the job. Lavisser does not want a bodyguard since he already has a huge servant named Barker, but orders are orders. Lord Pumphrey of the Foreign Office gives Sharpe a contact in case he runs into trouble. Denmark is neutral, but has a powerful fleet. Napoleon wants to replace the ships France lost at the Battle of Trafalgar, and Britain is equally determined to see to it that does not happen. Lavisser's task is to bribe the Danish crown prince to hand over the fleet for safekeeping. (Lavisser's grandfather is the prince's chamberlain, and they are also related by marriage.) If that fails, the British will have to seize the ships by force. When they go ashore in Denmark, Sharpe narrowly escapes being killed by Barker. He walks to Copenhagen and goes to see Ole Skovgaard, the emergency contact. Skovgaard turns out to be the main spy for Britain in Denmark. Meanwhile, Lavisser defects to the Danes and "confesses" that the British have sent an assassin to kill the crown prince. Skovgaard reads this lie in the newspaper and locks Sharpe in a room to await Lavisser. Sharpe escapes just in time. Lavisser turns out to be in the employ of the French; he and his men torture Skovgaard for the names of his contacts throughout Europe. Sharpe manages to kill some of Lavisser's henchmen and drive the rest off. During his stay at Skovgaard's house, he and Skovgaard's beautiful widowed daughter, Astrid, become attracted to each other. They eventually sleep together, and Sharpe contemplates settling down in Copenhagen with her. When the British besiege Copenhagen, Sharpe joins them. The Danes refuse to surrender their fleet, so the British bombard the city. Sharpe, by now knowing the general layout of Copenhagen, guides a small force to the Danish ships, which have been prepared for burning in case the British break in. The men hide aboard the ships and safeguard them against burning. Meanwhile, Sharpe goes to Skovgaard's, only to find he has been captured and tortured again by Lavisser, who obtains the names of the British spies. Sharpe rescues Skovgaard, kills Lavisser and Barker, and gets the list of names. The city surrenders, and the Danish fleet is captured intact. Skovgaard will no longer work for the British after what they have done to his city. He also orders Astrid to break up with Sharpe, which she does. Lord Pumphrey has Sharpe sent back to England, as he does not want the rifleman to learn that he must have the Skovgaards killed; they know too much. ********************************************************************************************************** 5.3 1807 9 18 aa05.25Dreambb Shorncliffe, November 1807. Disliked by the colonel of the 1/95th, Opportunity to be promoted and transfer to 2/95 but to remain a Quartermaster. ********************************************************************************************************** 5.5 1808 6 1 aa5.5Choicebb Battles of Rolica and Vimiero, August 1808. British army under Wellesley deploys to Portugal. Provides opportunity and risks. ********************************************************************************************************** 5.8 1808 10 13 aa5.75Ordealbb Corunna Campaign, October 1808 Wellesley is gone back to England. Army under John Moore will go to Spain. Sharpe travels with baggage train. Moore chooses to retreat to Galicia when Napoleon enters Spain. Sharpe meets and old friend. Separated from battalion. Endures his own trials of the retreat. ********************************************************************************************************** 6.0 1809 1 8 Rifles French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809 Joins demi-battalion on way to rejoin with 2/95th at Vigo. When attacked by French cavalry, saves small portion. Only officer to survive. Commands the demoralized, distrustful men. Lead them to safety--and the only way of escape is a treacherous trek through the enemy-infested mountains of Spain. Joins with Spanish guerillos. Defeats French pursuit. Sharpe's battalion, acting as rearguard to the British Army in its retreat to Corunna, are cut down by a squadron of French regular cavalry. Sharpe takes up Captain Murray's heavy cavalry sword after Murray dies and takes command of the surviving riflemen (from the 95th Rifles). However, the men do not want to follow him. Their leader, Patrick Harper, and Sharpe fight, but they are interrupted by the arrival of Spanish Major Blas Vivar and his men. Vivar invites the British to travel with him for a while for mutual protection, but does not reveal his hidden agenda. The Spanish commoners hate the French invaders, but are dispirited and need something to rally around. Vivar finally confesses he is taking the gonfalon of Santiago (the biblical saint James) to the city of Santiago de Compostela. According to legend, raising the gonfalon there will summon the saint to Spain's aid; Vivar is certain that the act will rouse his people. However, the city is held by a strong French force. The French are aware of Vivar's goal. A French detachment, accompanied by Vivar's pro-French brother, Tomas, the Count of Mouromorto, pursues Vivar and Sharpe's men. As they march on, Sharpe encounters British Army Captain Michael Hogan, who is pleased to see the small group of soldiers. He also takes the young and beautiful Louisa Parker under his protection and begins to fall in love with her. Eventually, Sharpe reluctantly agrees to help Vivar try to take the city, despite the fact that the Spaniards who rally to Vivar are untrained and outnumbered by the French garrison. Against all odds, they capture the city and hold it long enough for Vivar to raise the gonfalon. ********************************************************************************************************** 7.0 1809 5 1 Havoc Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809 Sharpe is cut off and tries to fight his way back to the British lines but instead is led into treacherous danger. When the future Duke of Wellington arrives to take command, he immediately mounts his own counter-attack. Sharpe becomes the hunter instead of the hunted. Amidst the wreckage of a defeated army, in the storm lashed hills of he Portuguese frontier, Sharpe takes a terrible revenge. During a general British and Portuguese retreat from the French after the First Battle of Porto, Captain Horgan orders Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and his men to help find and escort to safety 19-year-old Englishwoman Kate Savage, the daughter of a recently deceased prominent port merchant. For some unknown reason, she ran away from her home in Oporto. Horgan also tells Sharpe to "keep a close eye" on Colonel James Christopher, who has been staying with the Savages and was the one who requested help in retrieving her. After Horgan leaves, however, Christopher dismisses Sharpe and his men. Sharpe and his detachment, orphaned from the 95th Rifles, are trapped when the French seize Oporto, but are unexpectedly saved by a small detachment of Portuguese soldiers led by Lieutenant Jorge Vicente, a law student in civilian life. Despite his hatred of lawyers, Sharpe gradually comes to respect Vincente. Christopher was sent by the British Foreign Office to Portugal to evaluate the situation in Portugal. He has instead decided to use the situation to enrich himself. French Marshal Soult would like to declare himself King of Portugal, but his royal ambition does not sit well with many of his officers. Christopher contacts and encourages the potential mutineers, but intends to betray them to Soult. Just in case the French do not conquer Portugal, he also "marries" Kate in a sham ceremony for her substantial inheritance, despite already having a wife in England. Seen openly collaborating with the French, he assures Sharpe that he is simply on a secret mission for Britain. Sharpe is suspicious of his motives, but Christopher shows him his orders from General Cradock, the commander of the British forces in southern Portugal. Christopher orders Sharpe to wait for him, for perhaps a week, and entrusts Kate to him. Christopher then negotiates with the French, offering the identities of the mutineers and other information in return for a monopoly on the port trade in Oporto. Christopher's Portuguese servant deserts him and tells Sharpe that Christopher has betrayed Sharpe to the French as a token of good faith. Fortunately, Sharpe defeats the French detachment sent to kill him and his men. The riflemen escape and seek to rejoin the main British force. Sharpe spots three barges and a small boat overlooked by the French, who have burned all the boats they can find. He makes contact with a senior British officer. General Wellesley, Cradock's replacement, has been seeking a way across the Douro River. The British are delighted to be able to send a division and artillery across to occupy a seminary dominating Soult's lines of communications. The French make desperate, but futile attempts to seize it. The British position is far too strong, and the French are slaughtered. In the aftermath of the British victory and the French retreat, Sharpe informs Wellesley and Foreign Office dignitary Lord Pumphrey of Christopher's treason. He is ordered to dispose of Christopher before he can divulge more secrets. Portuguese forces cut off one retreat route, forcing the French to abandon their heavy equipment and plunder as they flee along a mountain road. Sharpe, Vicente, and their men race ahead of the French, seeking Christopher. The French manage to capture both bottleneck bridges from Portuguese irregulars and escape, but Sharpe finds and kills Christopher (and one of his riflemen who deserted) and rescues Kate. ********************************************************************************************************** 8.0 1809 6 Eagle Talavera Campaign, July 1809 After the cowardly incompetence of two officers besmirches their name, Captain Richard Sharpe must redeem the regiment by capturing the most valued prize in the French Army—a golden Imperial Eagle, the standard touched by the hand of Napoleon himself. It is July 1809. During the Talavera Campaign, Sir Arthur Wellesley's army has entered Spain to confront Marshal Victor. Richard Sharpe and his small group of thirty riflemen, separated from their regiment during the retreat from Corunna, are attached to the newly arrived South Essex Regiment. Commanded by the cowardly and bullying Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson, the South Essex is a raw, inexperienced unit that has been drilled mercilessly with frequent use of the lash. Sharpe takes it upon himself to shape the inexperienced and poorly trained redcoats into soldiers. He comes into conflict with Simmerson; his nephew, the arrogant Lieutenant Christian Gibbons; and Christian's friend, Lieutenant John Berry. The situation is further complicated by the rivalry that emerges between Sharpe and Gibbons for the affections of Josefina Lacosta, a Portuguese noblewoman who ran way from her husband after he took a mistress. Only two of the South Essex officers appear to have any real experience: Captain Lennox, a veteran of the 78th Highlanders' action at the Battle of Assaye, where Sharpe himself won his commission; and Captain Thomas Leroy, an American Loyalist who was forced to flee his homeland after the American War of Independence. From Talavera, General Wellesley dispatches the South Essex, alongside Sharpe's riflemen and Major Michael Hogan's engineers, to blow up the bridge at Valdelacasa, so as to protect the army's flank as they march. They accompany a Spanish regiment of equal number, the Regimento de la Santa Maria, the seemingly straightforward mission becomes a disaster when both Simmerson and the Spanish unnecessarily cross the bridge to try to engage four squadrons of French dragoons. Due to a combination of arrogance, poor training and incompetence, the two regiments are routed by the French, with hundreds of men killed and wounded, Lennox fatally wounded by the enemy, and the loss of the King's Colours. Sharpe, however, distinguishes himself during the skirmish by saving the South Essex's own colours and capturing a French cannon. As a dying request, Lennox asks Sharpe to take a French Imperial Eagle, "touched by the hand of Napoleon" himself, so as to erase the shame of losing the King's Colours. Wellesley has Sharpe gazetted captain. In an attempt to shift the blame for the fiasco, Sir Henry tries to make Sharpe a scapegoat and intends on ruining Sharpe's career via his connections at Horse Guards. Sharpe concludes that only by capturing an Eagle can he remain in the army and keep his promotion. He also makes enemies of Gibbons and Berry when Josefina falls out with Gibbons, and Sharpe takes her under his protection. They become lovers, although Sharpe is forced to accept sizable loans offered him by Hogan in order to keep Josefina in the manner she is used to. Later, after Josefina is raped by Gibbons and Berry, Sharpe swears vengeance. He murders Berry during a night-time skirmish against the French. At the height of the Battle of Talavera, Simmerson panics at the approach of a French column, and orders the South Essex to withdraw, despite direct orders from the British commander, General "Daddy" Hill, opening a gap in the lines. Sharpe desperately deploys his men to delay the French from exploiting it. Sharpe's old friend, Lieutenant Colonel William Lawford, relieves Simmerson of command and orders the South Essex back into position, where their volleys destroy the column's cohesion. Sharpe leads the Light Company and his rifles into the fray and captures a French regiment's Eagle. Returning from the battlefield, Sharpe is ambushed by Gibbons, who attempts to murder Sharpe and take the Eagle for himself, but is killed by Harper. The capture of the Eagle secures Sharpe's promotion and restores the honour of the South Essex, but Sharpe's triumph is soured somewhat by Josefina's return to Lisbon, under the protection of a wealthy and aristocratic British cavalry captain. Over a celebratory dinner, Wellesley bitterly informs his staff officers that, although the battle was won, the campaign will be accounted a failure, since Spanish General Cuesta has blundered badly, forcing the British to retreat back to Portugal. Wellesley promises that the British will return to Spain, but on their own terms. To Sharpe's surprise and embarrassment, Wellesley concludes his speech by proposing a toast to "Sharpe's Eagle." (This begins Cornwell's practice, in nearly all the Sharpe novels, of ending a book with the use of its title.) ********************************************************************************************************** 9.0 1809 8 26 Gold Destruction of Almeida, August 1810 With Wellington outnumbered, the bankrupt army's only hope of avoiding, collapse is a hidden cache of Portuguese gold. Only Captain Richard Sharpe is capable of stealing it—and it means turning against his own men General Wellington orders Richard Sharpe to find out what happened to Claud Hardy, one of Major Michael Hogan's exploring officers, who was sent to locate Spanish gold thought to be in the (fictional) hamlet of Casatejada, and to retrieve the gold himself through any means necessary, as Wellington's army is in desperate need of funds. Sharpe sets off with his small company and links up with Major Kearsey, another of Hogan's exploring officers. Kearsey makes it clear that he believes that the gold belongs to the Spanish and the purpose of the mission is to return it to them. They meet the local partisan commander El Catolico, who delights in torturing French prisoners to death. When Kearsey is captured by the French, Sharpe decides to go into the town and rescue him, as the partisans trust the major. They succeed, at the cost of a few of their own men, and free not only Kearsey, but also Teresa Moreno and her brother Ramon. The Spanish guerrillas soon enter the town. El Catolico knows about the gold and is certain the British want to take it for themselves and abandon Portugal. Sharpe is strongly attracted to Teresa, who is betrothed to El Catolico. Her father, Cesare, is El Catolico's second-in-command. El Catolico claims that the French took the gold and captured Claud Hardy. El Catolico assigns partisans to escort Sharpe and his men partway back toward British lines, but when they leave, Sharpe doubles back late at night to search a fairly new grave. El Catolico is not fooled, and his men are waiting for Sharpe, but Patrick Harper learns that the gold is hidden under a large pile of manure nearby. Sharpe takes Teresa hostage in order to extricate himself and his men. They head for the fortress of Almeida and are harried by both the partisans and by French troops. Sharpe and Teresa fall in love. When questioned, she admits that El Catolico murdered Hardy (after the latter found out about the gold) and that her fiancé intends to use the gold for his own ends, rather than turn it over to the provisional Spanish government in Cadiz. Sharpe and his men are about to be overrun by French lancers, but are rescued by a unit of King's German Legion cavalry under Captain Lossow, who was sent by Hogan to search for them and take them to Almeida. The officers meet with the commander of the fortress, the English Brigadier Cox. Sharpe had an order personally written by Wellington, ordering that all officers give Sharpe whatever assistance he requires, but Kearsey had torn it up, so Cox is suspicious of his motives. El Catolico and his men arrive the same night and lodge a claim for the gold on behalf of the Spanish government. Unable to contact Wellington, as the telegraph is destroyed by French artillery before a message can be sent, Cox orders the gold to given to El Catolico and that Sharpe and his men join the besieged garrison. That night, there is a final showdown between Sharpe and El Catolico on the roof above Sharpe's bedroom window. Sharpe, knowing that El Catolico is the far superior swordsman, traps El Catolico's rapier after it impales his leg long enough for Sharpe to disarm and kill him. However, since Cox insists on giving the gold to the partisans, Sharpe decides to blow up the fortress's magazine. Before he can do so, however, a stray French shell ignites the gunpowder trail he had laid to the magazine. The ensuing massive explosion breaches the fortress walls and kills many of the garrison, including Kearsey. Cox is forced to surrender. Sharpe and Lossow depart with their men and the gold before the French forces enter. Teresa returns to the partisans. Sharpe learns that the gold was needed to pay for the construction of the enormous defensive Lines of Torres Vedras, which form an impregnable barrier between the British Army's base in Lisbon and Marshal Masséna's invading army. Hogan reassures Sharpe that the gold was more necessary to Wellington than Almeida. Sharpe is granted a month's leave by Wellington, so he takes the opportunity to renew his acquaintance with Josefina LaCosta, his love interest from Sharpe's Eagle, who has set herself up in Lisbon as an exclusive courtesan. When she complains after Sharpe chases away her latest client, a wealthy lieutenant, Sharpe laughs and drops gold coins, showing that he has enough of "Sharpe's gold" for her. ********************************************************************************************************** 9.3 1809 9 aa9.25Leavebb Battle of Arroyo dos Molinos, September 1811 Returns to England. Fights with Hill. ********************************************************************************************************** 10.0 1810 9 15 Escape Bussaco Campaign, 1810 Sharpe’s job as Captain of the Light Company is under threat and he has made a new enemy, a Portuguese criminal known as Ferragus. Discarded by his regiment, Sharpe wages a private war against Ferragus – a war fought through the burning, pillaged streets of Coimbra, Portugal’s ancient university city. Sharpe’s Escape begins on the great, gaunt ridge of Bussaco where a joint British and Portuguese army meets the overwhelming strength of Marshall Massena’s crack troops. It finishes at Torres Vedras where the French hopes of occupying Portugal quickly die. Part One: Bussaco Captain Richard Sharpe and his riflemen rejoin the South Essex Regiment during Wellington's retreat in Portugal. Sharpe is in a foul mood because his promised month of leave in Lisbon (after retrieving the gold in Sharpe's Gold) lasted barely a week, and in an even fouler mood because of Lieutenant Cornelius Slingsby, foisted on Sharpe by the South Essex's commander, Colonel William Lawford, at the insistence of his wife in England (Slingsby's sister-in-law) to advance the latter's career by any means. Lawford, despite knowing Sharpe's ability as a soldier, is seeking to ease Sharpe out and give Slingsby command of the South Essex's Light Company. Sharpe discovers a Portuguese Army major, Ferreira, and his criminal brother, "Ferragus", trying to sell a stockpile of flour to the advancing French, in contravention of Wellington's strict policy of stripping the land bare of any resources the enemy could use. Over the major's objections, Sharpe subdues Ferragus and has the flour scattered on the ground. Sharpe's friend, Major Hogan, later gives him a light reprimand, explaining that Ferreira is an intelligence officer for the Portuguese Army with contacts among the Portuguese sympathizers in the French Army, who claimed he was giving them the flour to gain the confidence of the French. Later, Sharpe is ambushed by Ferragus and his men and savagely beaten, saved from death only by the chance appearance of some provosts. On the morning of the Battle of Bussaco, Lawford uses Sharpe's injuries as an excuse to temporarily relieve him of command of the Light Company and place Slingsby in charge. The French launch a frontal attack up the steep ridge, only to be decimated by the Allies' cannon and musket fire. Because of Slingsby's incompetence, the Light Company is separated from the rest of the regiment and almost overrun by the retreating survivors of one of the destroyed French columns. Sharpe takes charge and narrowly averts disaster. Afterward, Slingsby complains to Lawford, who orders Sharpe to apologize for his harsh language. Sharpe refuses, and Lawford assigns him to replace the regimental quartermaster, confirming Slingsby as captain of the Light Company. Part Two: Coimbra Sharpe is sent ahead to Coimbra to prepare billets for the regiment and its officers. His friend, Portuguese Captain Jorge Vicente, goes along. Sharpe goes to Major Ferreira's house and finds it abandoned, except for his children's English governess, Sarah Fry, naked and locked in a room. Ferragus and his men had been guarding his brother's house, and Ferragus was planning to rape Sarah, but had to leave ahead of the arriving British soldiers. Ferragus, still seeking revenge against Sharpe, lures him, Sergeant Patrick Harper, and Vicente (along with Sarah) to a warehouse where he has hidden an enormous stockpile of food and other supplies for sale to the desperate French Army. Ferragus traps the four in the stone cellar, planning to return and finish them off after the British and Portuguese forces depart. Ferragus is sure the cellar is escape-proof, but Sharpe and Harper, seeing the movement of rats, pry up the floor and break into a sewer, through which they escape. By the time they emerge above ground, the British Army has left and the French are raping, pillaging and murdering the residents of the city. Sharpe and Harper save a young Portuguese woman, Joana, from being raped by three French soldiers. Before fleeing the city, Sharpe manages to set fire to the warehouse, destroying the supplies. Ferragus and his brother have already been paid for their stores, but flee the city when they see the warehouse burning, realizing they will be blamed for its loss. Part Three: The Lines of Torres Vedras Marshal Masséna and his army march south from Coimbra, but are stopped by the immense Lines of Torres Vedras, two lines of fortifications constructed by Wellington. The fortifications appear impregnable, but Masséna, knowing that his army has no supplies for a long retreat, orders a probe into what appears to be an unfortified valley. The valley is defended by the South Essex and a Portuguese unit. Meanwhile, Lawford has posted the South Essex's Light Company as a picquet to give Slingsby another opportunity to distinguish himself. Instead, Slingsby disobeys Lawford's order to remain sober and is completely drunk when the French attack, forcing his junior lieutenant to take command. Ferreira and Ferragus arrive, claiming to have important information for Wellington, and Ferreira orders the lieutenant to accept a French demand for surrender, so that he and Ferragus can slip away. However, Sharpe and his party show up. They quickly subdue Ferreira and Ferragus, and Sharpe takes charge. The French attack, and in the confusion Ferragus breaks free and attacks Sharpe. During the fight, Sharpe backs Ferragus up against a window, where he is killed by French musket fire from outside. Under Sharpe's leadership, the Light Company successfully drives off the French, then employs a ruse thought up by Sharpe to drive off a second French force that was threatening to defeat the South Essex, brought up by Lawford to try to rescue the Light Company. Sharpe orders Ferreira be sent to Wellington, then asks Lawford if he should resume his duties as quartermaster. Lawford, having seen Slingsby's drunkenness and incompetence firsthand, irritably tells Sharpe to stop being "tedious." ********************************************************************************************************** 11.0 1811 2 28 Fury Battle of Barrosa, March 1811 Sharpe has been sent by Wellington on a mission to Cadiz, now the capital of Spain, to rescue the British ambassador -- who happens to be Wellington's brother -- from a spot of undiplomatic trouble. The city has been blockaded by the French but is supported by the British from the sea. It contains a rare mix of pro- and anti-British citizens, diplomats, courtiers, adventurers, and spies. Sharpe's mission -- complicated, undercover, and political -- turns out to be completely different from the one on which he was sent. It brings him through the besieging enemy army to triumph in the Battle of Barrosa, where the British, deserted by their allies, defeat an overwhelmingly stronger French force. In the spring of 1811, the Peninsular War appears to have been won—by the French. Cádiz is the only major Spanish town still holding out. From their overwintering strongholds in Portugal, the British sally forth to the River Guadiana with a small force seeking to destroy a key bridge across the river. The mission is commanded by the young Brigadier General Moon, a man with no love for Sharpe. Sharpe and the men with him encounter French Colonel Henri Vandal, commander of the 8th Regiment of the Line. Sharpe succeeds in blowing up the bridge, but is seriously wounded in the head. His men manage to get him to Cádiz, which is besieged by a French army led by Marshal Victor. In Cadiz, British ambassador Henry Wellesley, younger brother to the Duke of Wellington, seeks Sharpe's help. Wellesley has fallen in love with a beautiful woman named Caterina Blazquez. Unfortunately, she turns out to be a whore, and her pimp tries to blackmail Wellesley using Wellesley's love letters. Worse, virulently anti-British Catholic priest Father Salvador Montseny learns of this and murders the pimp to obtain the letters. British spymaster Lord Pumphrey assures Wellesley he can pay for the letters and that will be the end of the affair, but Sharpe believes otherwise. Sharpe is proved correct, but eventually manages to steal the letters (and make the acquaintance of Blazquez) with the assistance of Patrick Harper and his trusted riflemen. Then a joint Spanish-British army is transported by boat south of the city to attack Victor's forces from the rear and lift the siege. Because the Spanish provide more troops, timid Spanish General Lapena is given command, rather than British General Thomas Graham. Lapena squanders opportunity after opportunity, leading his men toward disaster and Victor's trap. Fortunately, Graham and the British, fighting desperately while the Spanish do nothing, defeat the French in the Battle of Barrosa. In the battle, Sharpe captures Colonel Vandal. ********************************************************************************************************** 12.0 1811 3 31 Battle Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, May 1811 Quartered in a crumbling Portuguese fort, Richard Sharpe and his men are attacked by an elite French unit, led by an old enemy of Sharpe’s, and suffer heavy losses. The army’s high command blame Sharpe for the disaster and his military career seems to be ruined. His only hope is to redeem himself on the battlefield. So with his honour at stake, against an overwhelming number of French troops, Sharpe leads his men to battle in the narrow streets of Fuentes de Oñoro While lost near the Spanish-Portuguese border, Sharpe and his company surprise a group of French soldiers in unusual grey uniforms, caught in the act of raping a teenage Spanish villager. They kill some Frenchmen and take two prisoner. During a parlay, their leader, Brigadier-General Guy Loup, offers to give Sharpe safe passage in exchange for the men, but Sharpe, appalled by the rape and massacre of the other villagers, including children, orders the prisoners shot. (Loup reveals that he counters the atrocities committed by Spanish guerrillas by having his men commit more heinous ones.) Loup swears to avenge them. Back at headquarters, Sharpe is informed by Major Michael Hogan that the Real Compania Irlandesa, the royal bodyguard of the captive King of Spain, have been sent to join Wellesley's forces. As the British wish for Wellesley to be appointed Generalissimo of the Spanish Armies, it is imperative that the unwanted soldiers be treated with honour, though they are composed of Irish exiles and their descendants (who have no love for the British due to their occupation of Ireland) and have no combat experience. Wellesley assigns Sharpe to encourage them to desert by taking them to a fort close to the French and drilling them mercilessly. There Sharpe also has to deal with former Wagon Master-General Colonel Claude Runciman, a grossly fat and indolent man. Pierre Ducos, a French intelligence officer answering to Napoleon himself, has planted an agent within the Compania Irlandesa, Dona Juanita de Elia, a Spanish noblewoman, the mistress both of the unit's commander, Lord Kiely, and of Loup. False rumours of British atrocities in Ireland, backed up by forged American newspapers, target not only the Compania, but also the many Irishmen in the British army. Despite knowing Wellesley's intentions, Sharpe decides to turn the demoralised exiles into real soldiers. He persuades Runciman to divert arms and ammunition to the Compania, and conspires with a local partisan, El Castrador, to kill and mutilate some deserters, making it look like the French are responsible, to deter further desertions. The Compania are joined at the fort by a Portuguese infantry battalion. Sharpe, concerned by the threat posed by Loup's personal vendetta against him, acknowledges his illegal execution of Loup's men to a few officers. That night, Loup attacks the fort, massacres the Portuguese, and is only driven off when Sharpe's friend, Tom Garrard, sacrifices himself to blow up the ammunition wagons. Sharpe's carelessly public admission and the imminent enquiry into the disaster endanger his career. Wellesley, though reluctant, is willing to make him a scapegoat to conciliate the Portuguese. To avoid this, Sharpe attacks Loup's hideout but finds it deserted, except for Dona Juanita, who is exposed as the enemy agent, and courier of the forged newspapers. Sharpe sleeps with Juanita, and lets her go the following morning, thus frustrating Hogan's hopes of uncovering her accomplice in the Compania. The disgraced Kiely commits suicide, and his funeral is presided over by the regiment's chaplain, Father Sarsfield. In a private conversation over the open grave, Hogan informs Sarsfield that he is aware of his treachery, but lacks proof. Sarsfield attempts to kill Hogan, but is shot by Sharpe, and buried with Kiely. The French, led by Marshal André Masséna, prepare to cut the British off from their only route of retreat and bring Wellesley to battle. Wellington concentrates his forces at the village of Fuentes de Onoro. Still in disgrace, Sharpe, Runciman and the Real Compania Irlandesa are assigned to guard the ammunition wagons. French assaults push the British out of the village and steadily back up a hill. Wellington releases his reserves, who drive the French back into the village. However, the British are in turn counter-attacked by the Loup Brigade. With Sharpe's encouragement, Runciman "offers" to throw the Compania into the fray. They turn the tide of battle; as the Loup Brigade falters, the French fall back, and Wellington sends his men forward, winning the battle. During the fighting, Loup and Sharpe duel in the ford over the river. Sharpe is shot and wounded by the Dona Juanita, who is in turn killed by Harper. Despite his wound, Sharpe disarms and drowns Loup. The Real Compania Irlandese are sent to the Spanish Junta in Cadiz with honour. The case against Sharpe and Runciman is dropped, in light of their bravery and the deaths of all eyewitnesses to Sharpe's admission other than Runciman, who lies on Sharpe's behalf. References to other novels Loup pleaded for the lives of his men in much the same way that Sharpe has done in previous novels. Vengeance is not a characteristic lacking in Sharpe. Garrard and Sharpe met in Sharpe's Tiger in the ranks. They both stayed in the army, but Garrard enlisted in the Portuguese Army where he was promoted to Captain. We see the contrast between the reluctance of the British Army to have commissioned officers from the ranks, while the Portuguese army encourages the practice. Had Sharpe enlisted in the Portuguese army, he would likely have been a Major, instead of a Captain. As it was Sharpe and Harper who blew up the magazine in Almeida in Sharpe's Gold, Garrard's selfless act is an interesting twist. After engaging in a scuffle in Loup's bedroom, Sharpe and Juanita have sex. She steals Perkins' jacket before she leaves the hideout. Perkins, a teenage Rifleman, is featured in the television series but this is the first novel (as written; second, per historical sequence) where he appears. In the first Sharpe novel written, Sharpe's Eagle, Cornwell features a teenage Rifleman named Pendleton (who dies at Talavera). In this novel, set two years after Talavera, Pendleton is again mentioned. This is likely a mistake by Cornwell, who has admitted not to have re-read "Eagle". In a similar vein, the earlier novel Sharpe's Rifles had featured a rifleman named Cooper who was killed during the retreat to Corunna. The character survived and became a recurring character in the television adaptations and reappears in this novel (and others set after Corunna) without any explanation. In a further nod to the television series, the novel is dedicated to Sean Bean who portrays Sharpe. Runciman never appears in any subsequent book and we are told was sent to England to become commander of the Militia. ********************************************************************************************************** 12.3 1811 5 16 aa9.25Questbb Battle of Albuera, May 1811 SE Light Coy remains detached. Goes with 2nd Division's train. ********************************************************************************************************** 13.0 1812 1 7 Company Siege of Badajoz, January to April 1812 To stem the Napoleonic tide, Sharpe must capture a fortress—where his wife and infant daughter are trapped—while protecting himself from a fellow officer determined to destroy him. uarding the northern path into Spain. Sharpe and Harper lead an assault on the French. Unfortunately, Sharpe's commander and friend, Colonel William Lawford, is severely wounded when a mine is detonated. He loses an arm and retires from his post as commander of the South Essex regiment, losing Sharpe a friend and ally. Sharpe's situation only gets worse when his old enemy, Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill, joins the company. Hakeswill hates Sharpe with a vengeance and plans to kill him. Meanwhile, Sharpe's lover Teresa Moreno arrives, informing Sharpe that she has given birth to his daughter Antonia, and that she is living in Badajoz. Sharpe promises her that he will protect her when the British army attacks the city. He is also reunited with his former Lieutenant, Robert Knowles, who is now a captain of a fusilier company. Knowles also vows to protect Teresa. Later, Hakeswill encounters Teresa in a stable. He attempts to rape her, but she fights him off, slashing his face and wrist. Sharpe and Harper enter the stable, and Harper brutally beats Hakeswill. Hakeswill vows revenge on Harper. Then Lawford's replacement, Colonel Windham arrives, as well as Captain Rymer, who has purchased his captaincy, a normal practice in the British Army. Meanwhile, Sharpe's promotion to captain is finally rejected; the long delay in the verdict was due to being confused with another officer who died. Sharpe reverts to the rank of lieutenant, but Windham attempts to cheer him up by telling him vacancies will soon become available, as Wellington is determined to attack the formidable fortress at Badajoz as soon as possible, and casualties are expected to be high. Sharpe is given command of the regiment's baggage, ordered to guard it while the regiment digs trenches around the city. Sharpe leaves the baggage to visit his company, and when Rymer attempts to talk to him, the French attack. Rymer does nothing, so Sharpe leads his men into battle. The French are defeated, but in Sharpe's absence the regiment's baggage is robbed by Hakeswill. Windham is furious with Sharpe for abandoning his post, and is further angered when he discovers that a prized portrait of his wife has been stolen. He searches the packs of all the members of the Light Company, and the frame, but not the picture, is found in Harper's bag. Windham has Harper demoted to private and flogged. A few nights later, Windham sends the Light Company on a night attack to destroy a dam. He asks Sharpe to serve as his aide. Before the attack, Harper's seven-barrelled gun is taken from him by Hakeswill, as it is a non-regulation weapon. When the Light Company takes longer than expected, Windham orders Sharpe to find out the cause of the delay - stressing he is to do nothing else - and report back as soon as possible. The accompanying engineers light a fuse to detonate barrels full of gunpowder, but it becomes dislodged. Sharpe decides to blow the wall himself. He succeeds, but it turns out the engineers miscalculated, and the dam remains intact. During the fighting, Hakeswill tries to kill Sharpe using Harper's seven-barrelled gun, but only wounds him in the leg. Windham decides to remove Sharpe temporarily to allow Rymer to establish his authority, though he knows Sharpe is a brilliant soldier. He also orders the riflemen to abandon their rifles, which Rymer, at Hakeswill's prompting, blames the mission's failure on, as well as their green jackets. As Hakeswill taunts the disarmed riflemen, Sharpe humiliates Hakeswill by firing the rifles, which are supposed to be unloaded, at Hakeswill's belly. Hakeswill is more than ever determined to get revenge, and also plans to get to Teresa in Badajoz before Sharpe does. Sharpe is interviewed by the army commander, the Duke of Wellington, a few days later after Sharpe has scouted the enemy fortifications closely. Wellington decides to attack that night. Sharpe is ordered to simply guide the various regiments into their positions. However, he rejoins his regiment, which has been devastated by the French cannon fire. Windham is bravely trying to lead his men into the breach, and when Sharpe reaches his company, he discovers Rymer has been shot dead, so he takes command of his company. Meanwhile, Knowles has managed to reach the top of the French wall and leads his men into the city. While his men kill the French and plunder the homes, Knowles looks for Teresa to protect her. Knowles reaches Teresa's house, and Teresa lets him in, but Hakeswill, who had hidden himself under dead bodies during the assault, climbs to the upstairs room where Antonia is sleeping. When Teresa enters the room, he threatens to kill the baby unless Teresa has sex with him. Knowles tries to intervene and is shot dead. Meanwhile, Sharpe leads his men through one of the three breaches in the fortifications. Other British units break through at other points as well. Sharpe and Harper fight their way through the French to reach Teresa, and comes face to face with Hakeswill. Harper picks up Hakeswill's discarded shako and finds the picture of Windham's wife inside it, whom Hakeswill believes to be his mother. Harper threatens to destroy the picture unless Hakeswill releases Antonia. Hakeswill complies, but though Harper, Sharpe, and Teresa all attempt to kill him, they interfere with each other, allowing him to escape by leaping out a window. Hakeswill deserts. At the end of the battle, Windham praises Sharpe for his bravery. Sharpe returns his wife's portrait, explaining who had it, and Windham apologizes to Harper. Sharpe and Harper have their ranks restored. ********************************************************************************************************** 14.0 1812 5 10 Command Almaraz IF ANY MAN CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE IT’S RICHARD SHARPE . . . And the impossible is exactly what the formidable Captain Sharpe is asked to do when he's sent on an undercover mission to a small village in the Spanish countryside, far behind enemy lines. For the quiet, remote village, sitting high above the Almaraz bridge, is about to become the centre of a battle for the future of Europe. Two French armies march towards the bridge, one from the North and one from the South. If they meet, the British are lost. Only Sharpe's small group of men—with their cunning and courage to rely on—stand in their way. But they're rapidly outnumbered, enemies are hiding in plain sight, and as the French edge ever closer to the frontline, time is running out. . . ********************************************************************************************************** 15.0 1812 6 18 Sword Salamanca Campaign, June and July 1812 The greatest threat to Wellington's Salamanca Campaign is not Napoleon's Army but France's deadliest assassin. He's already failed to kill Captain Richard Sharpe once. Now, he's getting a second chance French Colonel Philippe Leroux and Captain Paul Delmas are fleeing from the King's German Legion toward Sharpe's Light Company. Leroux has extracted the secret identity of El Mirador, Britain's most important spy in Spain, from a priest he tortured. Leroux kills Delmas and assumes his identity and then allows himself to be captured by Sharpe and his men, knowing that the British would never exchange an imperial colonel. Sharp covets Leroux's sword, a finely crafted, superbly balanced Klingenthal sabre. As Captain Delmas, Leroux gives his parole to Major Joseph Forrest. Whilst he is being escorted back to Wellington's headquarters, he kills his escort and escapes on horseback towards Salamanca. Lieutenant Colonel Windham pursues Leroux on horseback, but Leroux kills him. He gains sanctuary in one of the three French-controlled forts outside Salamanca, after Father Curtis protects him from the locals. Sharpe confronts Curtis, who explains that the Frenchman is in fact Leroux, and that he was protecting the city's residents against Leroux's revenge if the city were to be recaptured by the French. Sharpe takes an instant dislike to Curtis, whom he thinks is sympathetic to the French. In Salamanca, Sharpe is introduced to the breathtakingly beautiful Marquesa de Casares el Grande y Melida Sadaba, and to Captain Lord Jack Spears. Wellington's army arrives at Salamanca as part of their manoeuvring against Marshal Marmont's army. Major Michael Hogan is both disturbed and relieved when Sharpe gives him a list Leroux dropped; the list was stolen from Hogan and contains the names of many of his spies. Many of them have recently been tortured and killed by Leroux. Frustrated at his inability to bring Marmont to battle on his terms, Wellington finally sends two battalions, including the South Essex, against three French battalions in an effort to provoke Marmont, but Marmont does not rise to the bait. Following the battle, Wellington places Sharpe and the Light Company under Hogan's command (as he and his men can identify Leroux) to ensure Leroux does not escape from the French forts. The Sixth Division attempts to storm the forts by surprise, but the French have been tipped off and slaughter the attackers. Sharpe is invited to a party by La Marquesa, but decides not to attend. Nevertheless Lord Spears later persuades him to go. As he prepares to leave the party, one of the servants takes him to a garden for a private meeting with La Marquesa. She obliquely claims to be El Mirador, and begs Sharpe to protect her from Leroux. They become lovers (her fat old husband being away suppressing a revolt in Brazil); after a while, she tells him her first name is Helena. After several days, the forts are assaulted again and quickly surrender. Sharpe and his men examine the French prisoners several times, but cannot find Leroux. After searching the wounded, Sharpe allows them to be taken to the hospital in Salamanca. After Harper discovers a disemboweled French soldier who does not appear to have a full complement of intestines, Sharpe realises that Leroux has disguised himself as a French soldier with a severe stomach wound. Leaving his jacket behind (he had taken it off due to the heat), Sharpe and Harper race to the hospital, disrupting Leroux's rendezvous with a confederate who has brought a horse for him. Whilst searching the hospital, Harper discovers Leroux and a struggle ensues. Harper is pushed down a staircase and knocked unconscious. Sharpe comes running and engages in a sword duel with Leroux until the blade of Sharpe's sabre is shattered. Before Leroux can kill him, a sentry comes to his aid, and Leroux flees. Leroux shoots Sharpe in the stomach. The Light Company eventually realise that Sharpe and Harper are missing and Major Hogan is alerted. A search of the hospital finds Harper still unconscious, but Sharpe cannot be found. When his discarded trousers are found, it is believed that he was mistaken for a dead French soldier and buried in a mass grave. In fact, he has been taken to the death ward run by Sergeant Connolley in the dank basement. Sharpe, unrecognised, drifts in and out of consciousness, but refuses to die from a wound that is almost always fatal. Hogan and Harper resume the search. They finally find Sharpe, but he is barely clinging to life. While the army moves on, Harper and Isabella (the peasant girl Harper rescued in the Battle of Badajoz) minister to Sharpe. In the meantime, Hogan assigns Lord Spears and some men to discreetly guard El Mirador. With time on his hands, Harper buys a sword and spends many hours working on it. Isabella tells him that Sharpe is on the road to full recovery. When Lord Spears visits, Sharpe, he suggests that Lord Spears is protecting El Mirador. Sharpe's knowledge of this surprises Spears and makes him uncomfortable, but he nevertheless confirms Sharpe's hunch. As Sharpe recuperates, Harper returns to the Light Company. A month later, Hogan sends Sharpe a letter telling him that the French will soon be returning to Salamanca and that he must pack and leave. That evening, Father Curtis returns Sharpe's stolen rifle. Curtis tells Sharpe that one of his correspondents in Paris has discovered that Leroux has a multi-lingual sister named Hélène. Curtis believes that this must be La Marquesa. Hogan does as well, and asks Sharpe to feed her false information that Wellington intends to speedily retreat to Portugal, while remaining with one division as rearguard to fool the French into believing otherwise. Sharpe realises that Curtis is El Mirador, not La Marquesa. Whilst hoping that she is not a French spy, he does deceive her later that evening. Sharpe, still not fully healed, rejoins Wellington's army, riding on a horse that was a gift from La Marquesa. Marmont, suspecting already that Wellington is racing for the border, has these suspicions confirmed by a message from La Marquesa and he sends his army in pursuit, enabling Wellington to spring his trap, and the Battle of Salamanca ensues. The French left is destroyed by a British cavalry charge. Marmont and his deputy are both injured, so General Clausel assumes command. The British Fourth Division (including the South Essex) attack the French centre, but are repulsed by a French counterattack. Sharpe seeing the South Essex being pushed back and realising that they need to stand firm in order to channel the French columns into a killing ground for the Sixth Division, cannot resist joining the battle. He gets the wavering Light Company to stand their ground, and the French column is crushed. The French withdraw under the protection of their still undefeated right, hoping to cross the bridge at Alba de Tormes and escape. Wellington believes that a Spanish garrison holds the bridge and that the French are trapped. Unbeknownst to him, however, the Spanish have fled, believing that the British have been defeated, and the French retreat proceeds unopposed. Lord Spears conducts a solo charge against the fleeing French and is fatally shot. Sharpe comes to his aid. Spears is dying and he wants Sharpe to tell his sister that he died honourably and he tells Sharpe that he wants to die because he has the Black Lion (syphilis), which results in an ugly death. He tells Sharpe that he knew that Hélène was a French spy and that he had told Hogan this some time ago. Sharpe realises that he is lying and suspects that he is the traitor in the British headquarters who stole Hogan's list. He threatens to kill Spears by stabbing him in the back (which would make it seem like he was killed whilst running away). Spears relents and confesses. He had not sold out Curtis because Leroux already knew. but he did give Leroux the book in which Curtis had written down the details of all the agents in his network. Spears had been hoping that in exchange Leroux would give him a night with his sister, but instead, he gave him back his parole and promised to provide his sister with a dowry when he returned to Paris. Then, at Spears' own request, Sharpe shoots him in the head. He reports to Hogan that Leroux has Curtis's book. Sharpe, Harper and Hogan pursue the retreating French through the night in an effort to intercept Leroux. In the morning, they catch up to him, but he is able to outrun them and gain the protection of one of three French infantry squares. The French infantry subsequently ambush a British/King's German Legion cavalry charge against the French cavalry. Against extremely heavy odds, the enraged cavalry succeed in breaking the squares, albeit with heavy casualties. Sharpe corners Leroux. Leroux shoots at him, missing Sharpe, but killing his horse. Sharpe shoots Leroux, wounding him in the leg and causing him to be thrown from his horse. Leroux refuses to fight, preferring to surrender. Sharpe forces him to fight, threatening to kill him anyway if he does not. In the ensuing sword duel, Sharpe kills Leroux and recovers Leroux's sabre and the coded book. La Marquesa is allowed to leave Salamanca, since it is not in the British interest to create a scandal involving a high-ranking Spanish aristocrat. She encounters Sharpe, and is not particularly upset when she learns that Sharpe killed her brother. Sharpe chooses to keep Harper's present, feeling it is lucky. ********************************************************************************************************** 15.3 1812 8 11 Skirmish Defence of Tormes, August 1812 Richard Sharpe, newly recovered from the wound he received in the fighting at Salamanca, is given an easy duty; to guard a Commissary Officer posted to an obscure Spanish fort where there are some captured French muskets to repair. But unknown to the British, the French are planning a lightning raid across the River Tormes, and they reckon the obscure Spanish fort, which guards an ancient bridge across the river, will be lightly guarded. Sharpe is in for a fight This short story occurs after Sharpe's Sword in the summer of 1812. Sharpe and his men escort commissary Major Tubbs to an abandoned Spanish fort where a cache of thousands of muskets has been forgotten in the general French retreat in northern Spain. Unbeknownst to the British, French Major Ducos has authorised a surprise raid to threaten the Duke of Wellington's supply lines and hopefully delay the British pursuit long enough for the French to regroup. To accomplish this, the French first need to secure the fort, which guards a bridge across the Tormes River. However, Sharpe stands in the way, and for the first (but by no means last) time thwarts a scheme involving Ducos. ********************************************************************************************************** 15.5 1812 8 17 aa15.5Recoverybb Burgos Campaign 1812 Weak from wounds. Stays behind in Madrid. Enounters Ducos again. ********************************************************************************************************** 16.0 1812 12 10 Enemy Defense of Portugal, Christmas 1812 A band of renegades led by Sharpe's vicious enemy, Obadiah Hakeswill, holds a group of British and French women hostage on a strategic mountain pass. Outnumbered and attacked from two sides, Sharpe must hold his ground or die in the attempt In the winter of 1812, a band of deserters from all the armies of the Peninsular War - French, British, Spanish and Portuguese - descends on the isolated hamlet of Adrados, on the Spanish-Portuguese border, led by Pot-au-Feu (Sergeant Deron, formerly Marshal Soult's chef). They slaughter the residents, sparing a number of women on pilgrimage to a convent in the village, including Lady Farthingdale and Madame Dubreton, the English-born wife of a French colonel of cavalry. Major General Nairn sends Richard Sharpe, recently promoted to the rank of major to deliver the ransom demanded for Lady Farthingdale. Upon reaching Adrados, they encounter French Colonel Dubreton and his sergeant on a similar mission, to free Dubreton's wife. When they meet with "Maréchal" (Marshal) Pot-au-Feu, Sharpe is appalled to discover that Obadiah Hakeswill, his longtime bitter enemy (beginning from Sharpe's Tiger), is Pot-au-Feu's "colonel". They see both ladies are safe and deliver the ransom, but Hakeswill informs them that the money only safeguards the women's virtue, and that they must continue making payments. Colonel and Madame Dubreton are careful to conceal their connection from the kidnappers. Sharpe notes that Adrados is extremely defensible, with a castle, a watchtower and a convent. Madame Dubreton gives Sharpe a clue that she is being held in the convent. Sharpe proposes to take the Light Company and two companies of the 60th American Rifles to make a sneak attack on the watchtower and the convent to free and protect the ladies until Colonel Kinney and his 113th Fusilier Regiment wipes out the deserters. Sharpe chooses Christmas Eve for the attack, as the gang will almost certainly be drunk. Nairn foists Captain Gilliland and his unwanted troop of "Rocket Cavalry" onto Sharpe. The Prince Regent thinks rocket artillery is a marvelous idea and wants it field tested; Sharpe finds the rockets to be wildly inaccurate. Sharpe captures the convent and frees the women. Pot-au-Feu is taken prisoner, but Hakeswill gets away. Recently arrived, aged Colonel Sir Augustus Farthingdale is reunited with his beloved young "wife". "Lady Farthingdale" is actually Josefina Lacosta, a high-class courtesan with whom Sharpe is intimately acquainted. Shortly afterward, Dubreton arrives with his own forces. Dubreton repays Sharpe for saving his wife by handing over Hakeswill. He then invites Sharpe and the other British officers to dinner. There Sharpe first encounters Major Ducos, a French spy with great influence who will repeatedly trouble Sharpe in the future. The French demand that the British leave by nine o'clock the next morning. Farthingdale readily agrees, but Sharpe has misgivings. His Spanish partisan wife Teresa Moreno arrives and confirms his suspicions; she tells him that a sizable French force is advancing on the village, part of an overall plan to invade Portugal. He sends Teresa to take the news to Nairn. Sharpe decides to make a stand and blackmails Lord Farthingdale into leaving (by threatening to reveal who Lady Farthingdale really is), thus leaving Sharpe in command. He sets a trap for the French, using Gilliland's Congreve rockets (at very close range) to stop the initial attack. British reinforcements arrive just in time to save Sharpe's greatly outnumbered men. Hakeswill escapes during the last hours of the fight and encounters and kills Teresa. He tries to desert to the French, but Dubreton returns him to Sharpe. After a court martial, Hakeswill is shot by a firing squad. He survives, but the grief-stricken Sharpe administers the coup de grace himself. Characters Richard Sharpe: Brevet major in the British Army Pot-au-Feu: Sergeant Deron, who appears in Sharpe's Havoc, and is the leader of the renegade band References to other novels Josefina LaCosta was the female lead in Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's love interest. She was last seen in Sharpe's Gold where she had set up house in Lisbon entertaining wealthy allied officers. Colonel Sir Augustus Farthingdale has her masquerade as his wife in exchange for his maintaining her in a life of luxury. Cornwell describes Adrados as the Gateway of God where outnumbered Spanish knights defeated Moors during the Wars of Spain. The convent in Adrados was set up to commemorate the piety of this event. Madame Dubreton uses a line from the poem "Eloise and Abelard" by Alexander Pope. She said "withering in my bloom, lost in [a convent's] solitary gloom." ********************************************************************************************************** 17.0 1813 2 26 Honour Vitoria Campaign, February to June 1813 An unfinished duel, a midnight murder, and the treachery of a beautiful prostitute lead to the imprisonment of Sharpe. Caught in a web of political intrigue for which his military experience has left him fatally unprepared, Sharpe becomes a fugitive--a man hunted by both ally and enemy alike. Major Pierre Ducos plots to broker a peace between France and Spain, offering to restore King Ferdinand VII to the Spanish throne in exchange for the Spanish signing a peace treaty and breaking their alliance with Britain. He offers the Spanish priest and Inquisitor Father Hacha and his brother, the partisan leader El Matarife, a huge sum of money for their assistance. He then has his agent, the extraordinarily beautiful Marquesa de Casares el Grande y Melida Sabada (born Helene Leroux), to write a letter to her husband claiming Sharpe tried to rape her. Guided by Father Hacha, the Marques, a Spanish nobleman of very high rank, challenges Sharpe to a duel. Sharpe accepts, mistakenly thinking it is due to his having slept with Helene (as have many others). Just after Sharpe disarms his opponent, Sharpe's commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Leroy, shows up and ends the swordfight, thereby saving Sharpe's career, as Wellington has forbidden dueling. That night, the Marques is murdered by El Matarife. Sharpe is charged with the crime, found guilty by court-martial and sentenced to death. Wellington cannot intervene, fearing for the fragile British-Spanish alliance. However, his friend, Major Michael Hogan, arranges for another condemned man to be hanged in Sharpe's place, sending Sharpe to search for Helene to find out what is going on. Meanwhile, Ducos betrays Helene. Instead of releasing her six wagons of valuables, he has Father Hacha and El Matarife kidnap her and take her to a nunnery; a stipulation of her late husband's will states that, if she becomes a nun, her entire enormous inheritance will go to the Church via Hacha. Sharpe tracks her down and frees her. However, he is captured by General Verigny, a French cavalry officer and Helene's latest lover, who has also come to her rescue. Sharpe refuses to give his parole to not try to escape. Ducos brutally interrogates him. Sharpe escapes, but is quickly recaptured by Verigny. Helene reveals Ducos' plot, then proposes Sharpe give his parole, whereupon she and Verigny will allow him to escape. Sharpe delays giving his answer, then escapes when a carelessly discarded cigar blows up a pile of ammunition, causing extensive damage and many deaths in Burgos. At the Battle of Vitoria, Sharpe's old battalion, the South Essex, is left leaderless when Leroy is killed leading an assault. Sharpe finds and rallies his men, playing a pivotal part in Wellington's subsequent victory. He and Harper then search for Helene. They spot El Matarife, who has captured Helene in the chaos of the French retreat. Sharpe goads El Matarife into a duel. After defeating him, Sharpe forces him to confess to the Marques' murder before killing him. Sharpe and Harper then beat Hacha until he agrees to clear Sharpe's name. Helene charms Wellington into allowing her to leave for France with her wagons. ********************************************************************************************************** 18.0 1813 6 28 Regiment Invasion of France, June to November 1813 A corrupt political plot threatens to put an end to the South Essex regiment and the life of Major Richard Sharpe when he investigates and discovers an illegal recruiting ring selling soldiers like cattle to other divisions The 1st Battalion, South Essex Regiment, is desperately short of men. The 2nd Battalion, stationed back in England, is supposed to train and send recruits, but Lord Simon Fenner, the secretary of state for war, informs Major General Nairn that no reinforcements will be sent and recommends the unit be broken up. While there is a lull in the campaign as Wellington prepares to invade France, Nairn sends Sharpe back to England to find out what is going on. Sharpe heads to the 2nd Battalion's headquarters with Regimental Sergeant Harper, Major d'Alembord and Captain Price and finds only a skeleton staff. However, an old comrade-in-arms stationed there tells him that he saw a South Essex recruiting party with new enlistees in tow, though none of them have shown up for training. Sharpe is then summoned by the Prince Regent, where he meets Lord Fenner. Fenner has his mistress, Dowager Countess Lady Anne Comoynes, meet Sharpe to find out what he knows. She seduces Sharpe for her own purposes and warns him to asking questions. Two men are sent to assassinate Sharpe, but Sharpe kills them after visiting an old friend, Maggie Joyce. One of the dead men is wearing the (concealed) uniform of a sergeant of the South Essex. Sharpe and Harper then enlist in the South Essex Regiment under assumed names. They are taken to a secret and brutal training camp in Foulness Island, run by the 2nd Battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Bartholomew Girdwood. Sharpe learns that Fenner, Sir Henry Simmerson (the regiment's disgraced founder and Sharpe's old enemy from Sharpe's Eagle) and Girdwood are secretly selling trained recruits to other regiments and profiting enormously. Harper is sentenced to be hunted and killed as training after he objects to a deserter being killed in cold blood. Sharpe rescues him and, with help from Simmerson's niece Jane Gibbons, they escape to London. Sharpe reports his findings to his former commander, Sir William Lawford, but Lawford tries to do a deal with Fenner, offering to cover up the matter in exchange for Fenner's patronage and command of a battalion in the Americas for Sharpe. Lady Anne, who has been forced to prostitute herself to Fenner to pay off her late husband's enormous debts, warns Sharpe. Sharpe illegally takes charge of the training camp from Girdwood, but he and his comrades are unable to find evidence of the crime. Jane tries, but fails to obtain two incriminating ledgers. In desperation, Sharpe takes the 2nd Battalion to London and presents them to the Prince Regent at Hyde Park during a celebration, proving they exist. Fenner, however, is too crafty, and Sharpe is in great trouble. Then Lady Anne arrives, having found the ledgers and rescued them from being burnt. She blackmails Fenner into cancelling her debts and fulfilling Sharpe's demands: The 2nd Battalion would be reformed, and Sharpe is allowed to take the trained soldiers, including Girdwood, back to Spain with him. Sharpe marries Jane because he loves her and also to protect her from her infuriated uncle. At the Battle of the Nivelle, Girdwood, the regiment's nominal commander, suffers a complete nervous breakdown after his first experience of battle, leaving Sharpe in command until a new colonel is appointed. ********************************************************************************************************** 18.3 1813 11 12 aaMissionaa Battle of Nive, November 1813 SE Sent to blow up powder magazine. Uncovers traitor. Leads regiment for last time. After a prologue set in 1810, which introduces Major Brand (Mark Strong), a British officer serving with Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean), the plot fast-forwards to present-day 1813, where France is losing the war. Major Sharpe is teamed with Brand, now a Colonel renowned for leading a small band of soldiers operating far behind enemy lines. Wellington (Hugh Fraser) assigns them the task of blowing up a store of gunpowder vital to French General Calvet (Olivier Pierre). To do this, they need the expertise of explosives expert Major Pyecroft (Nigel Betts). Major General Ross (James Laurenson), Wellington's head of military intelligence, will accompany them to evaluate Calvet's intentions. Meanwhile, a Gypsy family stumbles upon a secret meeting between a French colonel and a masked Colonel Brand, with one of his men. The interrupted plotters pursue and kill the Gypsies, except for a young woman, Zara (Berrin Politi), who manages to hide. Afterwards, she starts to bury her dead parents, only to flee when another masked man appears. However, it turns out to be Pyecroft, whose face was disfigured by a bomb accident. He digs the graves and takes Zara under his protection. In the British encampment, Zara spots one of her family's horses and tells Pyecroft that the murderers spoke English; next day three gypsies, with whom Zara was to have stayed, are found garrotted. Sharpe's suspicions are aroused by the unexplained deaths and Brand's assumption that 'Pyecroft's gypsy' was among them. As their joint mission unfolds, Sharpe realizes Brand is a traitor and French spy, luring them in order to trap Ross for his knowledge of Wellington's plans. Forewarned, Sharpe is able to turn the tables on the turncoat. After Sharpe's men capture the fort where the gunpowder is stored, he has Ross convene a court-martial, in which Brand is convicted and sentenced to death. Fearing that Brand's influential friends may be able to overturn the verdict, Sharpe conducts an impromptu execution by pushing the traitor into a deep well. The British blow up the gunpowder and escape, while Brand's men are given the opportunity to redeem themselves by acting as a rearguard to hold off the attacking French forces. However all is not well for Sharpe. His wife Jane (Abigail Cruttenden) is becoming more and more dissatisfied with his career as a soldier. Nonetheless a would-be seducer is foiled by Harris, acting as manservant. Pyecroft and Zara become engaged. ********************************************************************************************************** 19.0 1813 11 17 Storm Bayonne ' The attempt to break French resistance at Bayonne and the River Adour. 19.3 1813 12 25 Christmas Franco-Spanish Border, December 1813 Richard Sharpe, commanding the Prince of Wales's Own Volunteers, finds himself in a high, hard place with an enemy brigade on one side and a desperate force of Frenchmen fleeing their defeat in Spain on the other. "Sharpe's Christmas" is set in 1813, towards the end of the Peninsular War and falls after Sharpe's Regiment. Major Richard Sharpe and the Prince of Wales Own Volunteers have to stop the French garrison of the fortress of Ochagavia from escaping back to France. The garrison consists of 300 soldiers, plus their women and children and another 1,000 men from the 75th Line Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Caillou. The garrison is commanded by Colonel Gudin, an old friend of Sharpe's from his days in India. To ensure the garrison's swift escape, Brigadier General Picard is sent with his brigade to the village of Irati in the Pyrenees, along Gudin's escape route. Sharpe fends off Picard's brigade, but allows Colonel Gudin, the women and children and the 75th's Imperial Eagle to escape. ********************************************************************************************************** 20.0 1814 1 23 Siege Winter Campaign, 1814 Sharpe's mission has seemed simple: capture a small unguarded French coastal fort, cripple Napoleon's supply lines, and retreat across the sea. But behind the lines, Sharpe's old enemy, Pierre Ducos, awaits Sharpe's arrival with a battalion of French soldiers and a vicious commanding general who keeps the scalps of his dead enemies as trophies. Outmaneuvered by Ducos's treachery and abandoned by his own navy, Sharpe has only two choices: to escape with the aid of the charming, unscrupulous American mercenary, Cornelius Killick, or die A combined naval and infantry force is sent 100 miles up the coast from the British foothold in France to capture a seemingly weakly defended fortress. Major Richard Sharpe is given command of the land forces, primarily two rifle companies, one of them led by his friend, Captain William Frederickson. Colonel Wigram and Royal Navy Captain Horace Bampfylde, the overall commander, also want to incite a monarchist rebellion in Bordeaux, only 25 miles away, based on rumours of unrest. However, army Colonel Elphinstone dismisses the rumours. He informs Sharpe in private that the goal is to capture three dozen chasse-marées sheltering under the fortress's guns to use to construct a boat bridge (over the Adour River) and orders Sharpe to avoid any advance on Bordeaux. The Comte de Maquerre, a member of the Chasseurs Britanniques and another Bordeaux enthusiast, joins the expedition at the last minute, while Sharpe fears his wife Jane is sick with fever. Bampfylde changes plans without warning, ordering Sharpe to set up an ambush on the road to Bordeaux, while he reserves the supposedly easy capture of the fortress for himself and his Marines. Sharpe, however, spots an ambush by American sailors under the command of privateer Cornelius Killick. Sharpe then gains entry to the fortress by a ruse, accompanied by Regimental Sergeant Major Harper and Captain Frederickson; his men follow and defeat the stronger-than-anticipated garrison. They also capture some of the Americans, including Killick. Bampfylde decides to hang the Americans as pirates, despite Killick presenting him his letter of marque, but Sharpe releases the Americans after obtaining Killick's oath not to fight the British. Sharpe then marches inland, toward Bordeaux, with a company of Royal Marines led by Captain Palmer, while Bampfylde writes an official report wherein he claims all of Sharpe's successes as his own. Sharpe ambushes and routs a French column, using surprise to overcome an inexperienced force three or four times larger than his own. As the French regroup, he retreats back to the fortress. He is met by de Maquerre who claims Bordeaux has risen in open rebellion and insists that Sharpe march his men there to support it, offering to make him a Major-General in their "Royalist Army". Sharpe refuses, distrusting him, but de Maquerre reaches the fortress first and informs Bampfylde that Sharpe's contingent has been destroyed to the man, and that a vast French force is marching rapidly toward the fortress. De Maquerre is acting on the orders of French spymaster Major Pierre Ducos. Bampfylde strips the fortress of supplies, spikes the guns, and detonates the main arsenal, seriously damaging the defenses. He then sails away. Hours later, Sharpe is stunned to find a partially ruined and empty fortress. Meanwhile, Ducos, having arranged for his longtime nemesis Sharpe to be stranded, orders General Calvet and his demi-brigade to capture the fortress. Killick, who is reluctantly working for Ducos, warns Sharpe beforehand and gives him a hint about some quicklime he found nearby. Sharpe's men are outnumbered ten to one and are short of ammunition, but manage to hold off several assaults, dumping the quicklime onto some of their enemies, blinding them. Ducos orders Killick to break his oath and use his ship to bombard the fortress in coordination with another attack. Sharpe has an idea; he meets secretly with Killick to arrange for a contrived surrender in exchange for releasing Killick from his oath. The next morning, Sharpe surrenders to him. This unexpected development confuses the French long enough for Sharpe and his men to board the American privateer. Killick lands Sharpe close to British lines. Sharpe reaches the newly completed floating bridge, scolds Bampfylde, and kills the traitorous de Maquerre, and finds out Jane only had a Cold. All the news is not good however; he learns that his good friend Lieutenant Colonel Hogan has died of a fever. ********************************************************************************************************** 21.0 1814 3 8 Revenge Peace of 1814 Richard Sharpe, the battle turns out to be one of the bloodiest of the Peninsula Wars, and he must draw on his last reserves of strength to lead his troops to victory. But before Sharpe can lay down his sword, he must fight a different sort of battle. Accused of stealing Napolean's personal treasure, Sharpe escapes from a British military court and embarks on the battle of his life - armed only with the unflinching resolve to protect his honor. In 1814, Richard Sharpe and his second wife, Jane, quarrel over Sharpe's imminent duel with Captain Bampfylde, resulting from the latter's cowardice in the previous novel, Sharpe's Siege. Just in case, Sharpe grants her power of attorney over the considerable sum of money he has lodged with his prize agent in London. Sharpe fights the duel, wounding Bampfylde in the buttocks, and sends Jane to England with instructions to purchase a country home in Dorset, even though she makes it clear she wants to live in London. Sharpe takes part in the Battle of Toulouse, acting as Chief of Staff to Colonel Nairn's Brigade. Shortly afterwards, however, he learns that the war has already ended, and Napoleon has been defeated. Sharpe, Harper and Frederickson go to Bordeaux to await transport to England. There he learns that Jane has closed out his account, withdrawing almost £18,000. Sharpe and Frederickson are arrested in Bordeaux, accused of stealing Napoleon's treasury, which has been concealed at Teste de Buch, the fortress they had captured in the previous novel. A witness statement by Napoleon's spymaster, Pierre Ducos, an old, bitter enemy of Sharpe's, reveals who is responsible for the false allegation. Sharpe and Frederickson realize that they need the testimony of the fort's French commander, Henri Lassan, to exonerate them, so with help from Harper and Captain Peter d'Alembord, the two men escape and set out to find Lassan. In London, ignoring Sharpe's instructions at the urging of a friend, Lady Spindacre, Jane takes a large and expensive town house in fashionable Cork Street. On hearing of her husband's arrest, she contacts Sharpe's former ally, Lord John Rossendale, but instead of using his influence on Sharpe's behalf, he becomes Jane's lover. Sharpe and Frederickson make their way to Lassan's ancestral home in Normandy, to which he has retired. They arrive shortly after assassins sent by Ducos (disguised as British riflemen) kill Lassan and his mother. Lassan's widowed sister, Lucille Castineau, shoots and nearly kills Sharpe, mistaking him for the killers. When she learns the truth, Lucille takes the two fugitives in and nurses Sharpe. Harper and d'Alembord return to England to contact Jane. Jane refuses to receive them, and has Harper horsewhipped. In Normandy, Frederickson grows attached to Lucille, and proposes to her, but is refused. He leaves for Paris to track down Ducos, leaving Sharpe to recover from his injuries. In his absence, Sharpe and Lucille become lovers. Harper returns and tells Sharpe about Jane, just as Frederickson sends word that Ducos has fled to Naples in Italy. The three men travel to Italy, while Lucille, now pregnant, writes to the French prosecutor to exonerate Sharpe. Her letter is passed to Napoleon, in exile on Elba, who dispatches General Calvet to Naples to retrieve his treasure. In Naples, Ducos assumes the identity of a Polish count, buys the protection of the local cardinal, and assembles a small personal force of guards to guard the treasure. Calvet and Sharpe form an alliance; Calvet will get the treasure, while Sharpe will take Ducos back and clear him and Frederickson. The combined force successfully infiltrate Ducos's villa, capturing the treasure and Ducos himself, but before they can leave, the cardinal's forces surround the villa. Sharpe loads a small cannon with gold coins and fires it among the Neapolitan troops. The ill-disciplined men break ranks to collect the coins, and allow the besieged company to escape by sea, taking Ducos and the remaining treasure with them. Ducos is executed by firing squad. Sharpe and Frederickson have a falling out when Frederickson learns of Sharpe's relationship with Lucille (whom Frederickson had fallen in love with). Harper, discharged from the army, goes home to Ireland with his Spanish wife and child. Sharpe returns to Lucille (with some of Napoleon's gold coins). ********************************************************************************************************** 21.3 1814 10 aaJusticeaa Congress of Vienna, Winter 1814-15 Returns to Yorkshire. Accused of killing civilians. Jane takes lover and spends his money. Discovers real machine breakers. Redeems his name. It is 1814. There is peace in Europe as a defeated Napoleon is sent into exile on the island of Elba. Major Sharpe is assigned to head the Scarsdale Yeomanry in his native Yorkshire, depriving him of a chance to settle the score with his adulterous wife Jane and her lover, Lord Rossendale. Sharpe and Regimental Sergeant Major Harper are met on their arrival by George, an officer in the Yeomanry. As he escorts them to town, they are ambushed and shot at. Sharpe pursues (but does not catch) one of the men, who turns out to be his close childhood friend, Matthew Truman. Wickham takes Sharpe to meet Sir Willoughby Parfitt and Sir Percy Stanwyck, wealthy businessmen who own many cotton mills between them. Parfitt tells Sharpe about the post-war unrest. The discharge of men from the army has flooded England with unemployed workmen; the increased competition and a reduced demand for cotton gives Parfitt an excuse to lower wages. He is opposed by Truman, a rabble rouser who stirs up the discontented, poverty-stricken masses. Meanwhile, the financially strapped Rossendale inherits an estate in neighbouring Lancashire. He had used his influence to get Sharpe posted as far from London as possible, but now has to relocate (with Jane) nearby. Both Rossendale and Jane speak with Sharpe separately, but nothing is resolved. Dan Hagman, one of Sharpe's former riflemen, shows up looking for work, but turns down Sharpe's offer - nine years in uniform is enough for him. He becomes a follower of Truman. When Sharpe hears of an illegal meeting, he orders his soldiers to tread gently, but Wickham deliberately disobeys his orders and incites a massacre; Truman gets away in the confusion. However, Wickham cleverly manages to place all the blame on Sharpe. Sharpe visits Sally Bunting, a woman who had been kind to him in his childhood. From her, he learns that his mother is dead and also that Truman is his brother (or more likely half-brother). He arranges to meet with him at their mother's grave. Parfitt learns of it and sends Wickham to take them both. Sharpe, Harper and Hagman get away, but Truman is shot dead by Wickham. While in hiding, Sharpe is warned by Lady Anne Camoynes that Parfitt and Wickham intend to secretly intercept and destroy a steam engine that Stanwyck is bringing in, in order to weaken his business rival. They intend to blame it on disaffected machine wreckers. Sharpe and his friends foil the scheme, catching Wickham red-handed. Sharpe uses this to blackmail Parfitt into clearing his name. In the end, Sharpe heads back to London, Harper to Ireland, while Hagman stays behind, having taken a liking to Sally. ********************************************************************************************************** 22.0 1815 2 18 Waterloo Waterloo Campaign, 15 June to 18 June 1815 Serves on the Prince of Orange's staff. The inexperienced commander of Wellington's Dutch troops is slow to act on Sharpe's warning. Pushed back at Quatres Bras, hold at Mont St. Jean. The British suffer heavy losses when Napoloen attacks. Wellington has few reserves of men and ammunition; the Prussian army has not arrived, and the French advance wields tremendous firepower and determinaiton. Victory seems impossible. When South Essex loses commanders, steps in at time of French Guard attack. Napoleon having escaped from Elba, Richard Sharpe leaves his farm in Normandy to rejoin the British Army (to safeguard his half pay). He is appointed a lieutenant colonel of a Dutch-Belgian cavalry regiment and hired as one of the Prince of Orange's staff officers. Sharpe's friend Patrick Harper, despite being a civilian who has ostensibly come to Belgium to trade in horses, resumes his old place at Sharpe's side. The First Day: 15 June 1815 While patrolling the roads connecting the Anglo-Dutch and Prussian forces, Sharpe sees a large unit of Napoleon's Army of the North crossing the border from France, revealing that Napoleon does not intend to maneuver around the flank of the allied armies via Mons, as the Duke of Wellington expects, but instead to drive into the gap between the British and Prussian armies and defeat them in detail. Sharpe sends an urgent message to Wellington, while he stays behind to continue observing the French. Unfortunately, the message is given to General Dornberg, who mistakes Sharpe's message for a French ruse and tears it up. Later that day, after the French have entered Charleroi, Sharpe returns to the Prince of Orange's headquarters and is aghast to find that the army is ignorant of the French invasion. The Prince's Chief of Staff, Baron Rebecque, dispatches a messenger to retrieve the Prince from Brussels, while Sharpe carries orders to the troops nearest to the crossroads at Quatre Bras, commanded by Prince Bernhard Carl of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Although the French are checked as evening falls, Sharpe knows they will launch a much stronger attack in the morning, and rides to Brussels to warn Wellington. Sharpe barges into the Duchess of Richmond's ball and informs Wellington. Wellington is dismayed at being "humbugged" by Napoleon. At the ball, Sharpe is outraged to encounter Lord John Rossendale, the lover of his estranged wife Jane. He insults Rossendale and demands the return of the money Jane stole from him. Rossendale, knowing full well that he would lose a duel with Sharpe, meekly acquiesces, but Jane encourages him to use the impending battle as a cover to kill Sharpe. The Second Day: 16 June 1815 At Quatre Bras, a Belgian unit brought up to reinforce Saxe-Weimar breaks and runs as soon as the first French column appears (the Belgians had been French allies not so long ago). The Prince of Orange twice attempts to lead a charge of his Dutch-Belgian cavalry against an opposing force of French lancers, but his men refuse to follow him. Wellington arrives at Quatre Bras in time to see the Belgian troops fleeing, and details General Picton to deploy the British reinforcements, while Wellington rides east to confer with the Prussians. The Prince of Orange, humiliated by his own troops' poor performance, becomes outraged at Picton deploying brigades from I Corps, of which the Prince is the nominal commander, without consulting him. To assert his authority, the Prince orders General Halkett's brigade to form line and advance. The Prince disregards Sharpe's warning that the French cavalry are lurking nearby and will massacre any infantry in line, and dismisses Sharpe from his staff when Sharpe refuses to deliver the orders to Halkett. The 69th Regiment obeys and is all but wiped out by cavalry led by General Kellermann. Sharpe and Harper rush to the side of their old regiment, the Prince of Wales' Own Volunteers, and save some of them by urging them to flee to the safety of a forest. The rest of the brigade likewise takes casualties, and the French cavalry capture the 69th's King's Colour. Although more reinforcements arrive in time to check the French advance, Sharpe rages at the needless loss of life caused by the Prince. The Third Day: 17 June 1815 Rebecque attempts to mend fences between Sharpe and the Prince of Orange, saying the Prince needs Sharpe at his side more than ever now that the entire army knows he blundered. As much as he despises the Prince, Sharpe makes a token apology for his "rudeness," not wanting to lose his colonel's pay. Sharpe is dismayed to hear that the Prussians are retreating after their defeat at Ligny. The British retreat to a defensive position chosen by Wellington: the ridge of Mont St. Jean, just south of the village of Waterloo. While they are preparing to ride away, Sharpe and Harper glimpse across the field Napoleon himself astride his horse. During the confusion of the retreat from Quatre Bras, Lord John Rossendale becomes separated from the Earl of Uxbridge's staff, and is cornered in the woods by Sharpe. Rossendale aims a pistol at Sharpe, but lacks the nerve to pull the trigger, and Sharpe disarms him easily. Sharpe says Rossendale is welcome to Jane, but he wants his money back. Rossendale dashes off a promissory note, and Sharpe mockingly drops a length of rope into Rossendale's lap, saying that Rossendale has "bought" Jane according to an old English custom. The Fourth Day: 18 June 1815 Wellington deploys his forces on the ridge south of Waterloo, trusting Prussian commander Field Marshal Blücher's assurance he will march to his aid if he makes a stand. Unknown to him, General Gneisenau, Blücher's chief of staff, does not trust Wellington and secretly mismanages the Prussians' march to slow it down as much as possible. The Prince of Orange posts Sharpe on the British right to watch for a French flanking attack. Sharpe, however, is certain that Napoleon is so confident of victory that he will instead launch a frontal attack in overwhelming force. Although both armies assemble well before dawn, Napoleon does not commence his attack until close to 11:00 a.m. Sharpe and Harper, watching the French advance, are drawn into the defence of Hougoumont, and witness Colonel Macdonell's heroic closing of the gates after some Frenchmen get in. During a lull in the fighting, Sharpe offers his assistance, and Macdonell asks him to fetch a wagonload of ammunition. The Prince of Orange is humiliated further when, again, the Dutch-Belgian troops under his command refuse to advance, and, again, the Prince finds himself virtually ignored by the rest of the army's commanders. Believing that the farm of La Haye Sainte is about to fall to the enemy, the Prince quickly orders a Hanoverian regiment to advance in line, again ignoring his officers' warnings that the French cavalry are nearby. Again, the allied infantry are slaughtered. With Hogoumont under siege on Wellington's right, Napoleon believes (incorrectly) that Wellington will weaken his line to deploy reinforcements there, so he orders D'Erlon's infantry corps to assault the British center. Rossendale, desperate to regain his honor in battle after being humiliated by Sharpe, joins the charge of the British heavy cavalry in sweeping D'Erlon's infantry from the ridge. Rossendale fights bravely, but is swept along with the ill-disciplined English cavalry as they cross the field to the French artillery park. By the time French lancers form up behind them, the Englishmen's horses are exhausted, and they are easily slaughtered. Rossendale is struck from behind by a lance to the spine, blinded by a sword slash to the face, and knocked off his horse. Sharpe, outraged to learn that the Prince has repeated his mistake and caused yet more needless deaths, gives the Prince the V sign and rides away. He briefly considers riding back to Brussels and collecting Lucille, but changes his mind when Marshal Ney, mistaking movement behind the British ridge as a sign of wavering, unleashes the French cavalry at the ridge, where they are encounter British infantry in square. The French stubbornly make fruitless attacks on the squares, though this makes the infantry prime targets for the French artillery, which exact a dreadful toll. The Prince, for the third time, causes his men (this time from the King's German Legion) to be slaughtered by ordering them forward in line in the proximity of cavalry. Lieutenant Doggett calls the Prince "a silk stocking full of shit," and rides off to find Sharpe. Fearing more men will die if the Prince remains in command, Sharpe attempts to kill him under cover of the fighting, but only hits him in the shoulder, though this forces the Prince to retire from the field. As La Haye Sainte falls and with the French skirmishers and cannon slowly grinding down the British, Colonel Ford, the Prince of Wales' Own Volunteers inexperienced commander, is confused and indecisive, forcing Sharpe to take charge. Just then, Napoleon sends forward two columns of the his best, most renowned troops, the Imperial Guard, to strike the decisive blow. Wellington personally orders the volleys that destroy the larger column. Sharpe, accompanied by Harper, Doggett and Captain Harry Price, is given official command of the regiment by Wellington and helps to turn back the smaller column of the Guard. With the Imperial Guard in retreat and the Prussians finally arriving on the field, French morale collapses, and Wellington orders a general advance. As night falls, a delirious Rossendale is killed by a peasant woman looter. His friend and fellow officer inform Sharpe that Rossendale is dead and therefore his promissory note has no value, then leaves to break the news to Jane, who is pregnant with Rossendale's child and now utterly alone. ********************************************************************************************************** 23.0 1815 6 Assassin Road to Paris, 19 June to xx July South Essex pursue French to Paris. ********************************************************************************************************** 22.3 1 816 12 23 Ransom Normandy, December 1816 Old enemies take Sharpe's woman and child hostage. Sharpe's Ransom, takes place in December 1816, after Sharpe's Waterloo. Set in peacetime, it's a glimpse of Sharpe's life in Normandy with Lucille, and what happens when old enemies come to call. ********************************************************************************************************** 23.5 1817 11 5 aa22.5Challengebb Pindaris Campaign AS WITH MISSION AND JUSTICE, THIS WILL BE REWORKED TO FIT THE HISTORY AND THE SHARPE UNIVERSE. Returns to India. Fights at Khadki. The film starts with a flashback to 1803 in India, where Sergeant Sharpe (Sean Bean) leads a patrol to an East India Company outpost. He arrives shortly before another supposedly friendly group of soldiers led by Major William Dodd (Toby Stephens). In a treacherous surprise attack, Dodd's men kill almost the entire garrison and makes off with the payroll. However, Sharpe is only wounded and survives by playing dead. Fourteen years later, in 1817 after his wife Lucille died of fever, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Sharpe, now a farmer in France, is summoned to London by his former commander, the Duke of Wellington (Hugh Fraser), and asked to undertake one more mission for him: to find a man in India. The missing agent was trying to learn the identity of a turncoat officer advising a rebellious Maratha rajah. Sharpe refuses, unwilling to press his luck any further, until he learns that the agent is his old comrade in arms and best friend, Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley). Sharpe sets out for India. On his way to report to General Burroughs (Peter Symonds), he passes a group of soldiers escorting Celia Burroughs (Lucy Brown), the general's daughter. After a short conversation with her, he rides on ahead. He is soon attacked by marauders, but is rescued by Patrick Harper, who shows up just in time. Celia Burroughs' escort is also attacked, by none other than Dodd; she is captured and taken to the fortress of Khande Rao (Karan Panthaky), the nominal leader of the revolt. However, he is not yet of age and is under the influence of a regent, his late father's favourite concubine, Madhuvanthi (Padma Lakshmi), and her lover, now General William Dodd, who plan to kill Rao before he declares his majority. Sharpe reaches the encampment of General Burroughs, who is preparing to lay siege to the fortress of Ferraghur. The general is ill, so command has passed to an old, bitter foe of Sharpe's, the cowardly General Sir Henry Simmerson (Michael Cochrane). Simmerson refuses to act without orders and reinforcements from Agra. However, when Sharpe requests permission to infiltrate the enemy fortress, Simmerson is only too happy to allow him to risk his life. Sharpe and Harper, posing as deserters, are welcomed by the rebels. Sharpe makes the acquaintance of former French Colonel Gudin (Aurélien Recoing), a fellow veteran of the Battle of Waterloo two years earlier. Gudin has been hired to train the men. Meanwhile, General Burroughs recovers his health, dismisses Simmerson, and commences the siege. Sharpe discovers that Dodd has laid a trap for the British: they will attempt to breach the wall where he has mined it with barrels of gunpowder. In a skirmish, some British soldiers are captured, among them Sergeant Shadrach Bickerstaff (Peter-Hugo Daly), who had clashed with Sharpe earlier. To avoid torture and execution, Bickerstaff betrays Sharpe. Sharpe and Harper are beaten and imprisoned, but Gudin, disgusted by the barbaric execution of prisoners, helps Sharpe and Harper escape, just as the British launch their assault. Gudin next attempts to free Celia, but is murdered by Bickerstaff. Sharpe and Harper successfully set off the gunpowder prematurely, resulting in a huge explosion which kills many defenders. Harper encounters and shoots Bickerstaff, while Sharpe goes off in search of Dodd. When it is clear the fortress has fallen, Dodd prepares to flee. Madhuvanthi attacks him with a knife when she learns that he is going to abandon her; he murders her. Sharpe finds and kills Dodd. Khande Rao is allowed to keep his throne after he signs a peace treaty, much to Sharpe's disgust. Celia is reunited with her father. Their mission accomplished, Sharpe and Harper ride off. Celia tries to persuade Sharpe to stay, but fails. Connections to Cornwell novels Though the screenplay is set some 15 years later, it can be seen as an amalgam of three Cornwell novels – Sharpe's Tiger, Sharpe's Triumph, and Sharpe's Fortress – set in India between 1799 and 1803. In Sharpe's Tiger, Sharpe (then a private) infiltrates the fortress of Seringapatam, pretending to be a deserter along with Lieutenant Lawford, instead of Patrick Harper (whom he has not yet met). He is ordered to do so on the initiative of Colonel Wellesley, while in the screenplay, he is persuaded to go to India by the same man (though with a much higher rank). They infiltrate the fortress shortly before it is laid to siege, with the intention of saving Colonel Hector McCandless, head of the East India Company's intelligence service. To test his loyalty, Sharpe is told to shoot McCandless with a musket at point-blank range, which he does, having realised that the powder he is using will not fire. In the screenplay, Sharpe is supposed to shoot Harper, with similar results; in both he knows the gunpowder is fake by the taste (the lack of 'saltiness' from the saltpetre is the clue). Colonel Gudin appears in both screenplay and novel as a French officer training Indian soldiers. However, in the novel, he has been sanctioned by Napoleon Bonaparte's government to aid the sultan of Mysore in fighting off the British. In the novel, as in the film, he appears honourable, often opposing the Sultan's wishes to kill prisoners. The role of Sergeant Shadrach Bickerstaff in the screenplay is taken from that of Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill in the novels. In Sharpe's Tiger, Private Sharpe is the target of Hakeswill's bullying. The scene early on in the screenplay where Sharpe provokes Bickerstaff to fight him mimics a scene at the start of the book in which Hakeswill goads Sharpe into striking him, engineering a punishment of 2,000 lashes for Sharpe, and leading up to the events of the rest of the book. Bickerstaff appears to be a character who dies before the events of Sharpe's Tiger, and whose widow is Sharpe's love interest. The plotline in the screenplay where Bickerstaff effectively deserts to the enemy and becomes Dodd's right-hand man is reminiscent of Hakeswill's actions in Sharpe's Fortress. The use of "jettis" (Indian strongmen) is borrowed from the novels, where they carry out similar acts of violence on the command of the sultan, such as the execution by pounding nails into prisoners' heads using only their bare hands, as depicted in the screenplay. The character of William Dodd is described in Sharpe's Triumph and Sharpe's Fortress. Dodd's introduction to Sharpe and his death at Sharpe's hands in the screenplay are reminiscent of those in the two respective novels. In the novels, Gudin does not die, but is captured by the English after helping Sharpe. Historical errors Simmerson is first shown having ordered the flogging of a sepoy. Flogging was not a punishment meted out in the armies of the East India Company; only King's soldiers were flogged.[citation needed] However, flogging is in character for Simmerson. Including a flogging as Sharpe meets him here is a callback to their first meeting (in Sharpe's Eagle, both book and screenplay), where Simmerson is having men flogged for the crimes of others, and it serves the purpose of marking Simmerson out as antithetical to Sharpe, who was himself unjustly flogged as a Private. ********************************************************************************************************** 23.8 1818 1 1 aa22.75Perilbb Koregaon Campaign AS WITH MISSION AND JUSTICE, THIS WILL BE REWORKED TO FIT THE HISTORY AND THE SHARPE UNIVERSE. Returns to India. Fights at Koregaon. Returns to England. The story continues from where Sharpe's Challenge left off. On their way home to England, Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) and Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley) reluctantly agree to escort Marie-Angelique Bonnet (Beatrice Rosen) to the hill fort of Kalimgong, where her fiancé, Major Joubert (Pascal Langdale), is stationed. They encounter a baggage train heading to Madras, made up of soldiers from the King's and the East India Company's armies, commanded by the young Ensign Beauclere (Luke Ward-Wilkinson), engineer Major Tredinnick (David Robb), and Subedar Pillai (Rajesh Khattar). Included in the train is a redcoat prisoner named Barabbas (Amit Behl), an Indian princess (Nandana Sen) and her retinue, and Tredinnick's pregnant wife (Caroline Carver). When the train is attacked by forces of the bandit Chitu, the Subedar is wounded. They are saved by the timely arrival of Colonel Dragomirov (Velibor Topic) and his cavalry squadron. With no one more qualified, Sharpe is forced to take command. Trouble comes from within the train as well. Sharpe discovers that Barabbas is in fact the son of Obadiah Hakeswill, the man who murdered Sharpe's first wife. Flying into a rage, Sharpe almost kills Barabbas on the spot, stopped only by Harper's intervention. They also face opposition from Colour-Sergeant Wormwood (Steve Speirs), a British soldier who dislikes Sharpe's methods and fosters feelings of resentment among his men, which grows when Sharpe punishes two of Wormwood's men for drunkenness and attempted rape. Arriving at Kalimgong, Sharpe and Harper find the entire garrison killed, with the exception of the fort's commander, General Sir Henry Simmerson (Michael Cochrane), Sharpe's old enemy. Strung up naked in the courtyard, Simmerson's mind is addled with the heat and he seems to only speak nonsense, such as "save the harvest." Major Joubert is not among the dead, to Marie-Angelique's relief, but neither are the Company ledgers that reveal what has been stolen from the fort. The Subedar dies. Continuing on, the train finds a farming village destroyed by bandits, the entire harvest stolen, and everyone dead but a young girl who witnessed the attack. Between what the girl saw and Simmerson's addled ramblings, Sharpe realises that not only were these people growing opium for the Company, but Colonel Count Dragomirov and Major Joubert were responsible for the slaughter in the village and at Kalimgong, using bandits as scapegoats. The train is forced to leave mounts and wagons behind when the bridge over a river is found to be destroyed. While crossing, they are attacked by Dragomirov and his men. Joubert grabs Marie-Angelique and rides off with her. Sharpe tries to pursue, but Wormwood uses the chaos to try to kill Sharpe, managing only to wound him in the shoulder. Harper drags Sharpe to safety. Dragomirov's troops retreat. Once his wound is treated, Sharpe takes a horse and leaves to rescue Marie-Angelique, putting Harper in command of the train. When Sharpe finds Joubert, they fight. The weakened Sharpe is disarmed, but Marie-Angelique shoots and kills Joubert with his own pistol. However, Dragomirov's cavalry find them and take them to their field headquarters on the Indian plains. Meanwhile, during the night, the seriously wounded Tredinnick sneaks away, as he is slowing down the train. He tries to ambush Dragomirov, but his shot misses, and Dragomirov stabs him and leaves him for dead. Lance Naik Singh (Raza Jaffrey) finds Tredinnick and hears his dying words: Dragomirov's lie that Sharpe is dead. Dragomirov shows Sharpe around his field headquarters, where Indian slaves produce opium. He offers Sharpe Joubert's position and promises to keep Sharpe's people prisoner rather than kill them, but Sharpe turns him down. Later, Dragomirov threatens to give Marie-Angelique, who has been dosed with opium, to his men, so Sharpe agrees to lead Dragomirov to the train and convince Harper to surrender. During the night, Dragomirov has Sharpe chained in a pit with cobras, but he gets free, rescues Marie-Angelique, and catches up with the train. Dragomirov follows, but Sharpe uses gunpowder to create a roadblock. When the train comes to a village, Mrs. Tredinnick goes into labour. Sharpe has no choice but to stop and defend the place. He gets the village's leader, the real Chitu (Ulhas Tayade) and the rest of the residents on-side for the upcoming battle. Singh repairs a very old cannon. Wormwood wants to desert, but his two cronies decide to fight alongside Sharpe. That night, Sharpe apologises to Barabbas for his earlier treatment and agrees to let him fight, but later, Wormwood frees Barabbas and tells him that Sharpe plans to execute him in the morning. Both Barabbas and Wormwood ride away separately. Wormwood joins Dragomirov and tells him all about Sharpe's defences. When Dragomirov attacks the next day, Sharpe's men resist strongly. Beauclere is fatally wounded while defending the women. Wormwood kills one of his former comrades (with the other also perishing in the battle), but Harper kills him in a hand-to-hand fight. At the last moment, British cavalry soldiers arrive, led by Barabbas, who had ridden the entire night to bring reinforcements. Sharpe duels Dragomirov and kills him. After the battle, Sharpe says his goodbyes to Marie-Angelique, who talks of visiting Sharpe's farm in Normandy, and to Simmerson, with whom he has an almost-friendly conversation, before he and Harper ride off for home. ********************************************************************************************************** 24.0 1819 8 1 Devil Emperor, 1820-21 Retires to peaceful farm in Normandy is shattered. An old friend, Don Blas Vivar, is missing in Chile, reported dead at rebel hands – a report his wife refuses to believe. She appeals to Sharpe to find out the truth. Sharpe, along with Patrick Harper, find themselves bound for Chile via St. Helena, where they have a fateful meeting with the fallen Emperor Napoleon. Convinced that they are on their way to collect a corpse, neither man can imagine that dangers that await them in Chile Doña Louisa Vivar, whom Sharpe befriended in Sharpe's Rifles, visits the Sharpe farm and asks the former rifleman to sail to Chile in search of her husband, Don Blas Vivar, who has disappeared while serving as Captain-General of the rebellious colony and may have fallen victim to his political rival and successor, Miguel Bautista. Sharpe and Harper sail to Chile with Spanish Colonel Ruiz and his regimental officers aboard the frigate Espiritu Santo, commanded by Captain Ardiles. The group decide to stop off en route at St. Helena to pay a visit to exiled French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon grants an audience and asks Sharpe and Harper to remain for a private conversation. Napoleon persuades Sharpe to taking a gift to an admirer in Chile for him. British Consul George Blair welcomes Sharpe and Harper to the Chilean port of Valdivia and informs them that Blas Vivar's body was found and buried three months previously. Sharpe and Harper visit Bautista's adjunct, Captain Marquinez, to arrange passes and permits to travel to Puerto Crucero, exhume the body and return it to Spain. Back at their lodgings, they interrupt burglars who wound Harper and escape with their possessions, including Napoleon's gift. Sharpe and Harper meet with Bautista, who announces that he has caught the thieves, whom he has branded on the spot, and returns all the stolen goods except for Napoleon's present. When Bautista asks if everything is there, Sharpe says nothing is missing. Marquinez provides the required passes and permits and rides out with Sharpe and Harper on the first stage of their journey. Overnighting at the "Celestial Fort", Sharpe suspects that their escort, commanded by Sergeant Dregara, has orders to kill them. He persuades the garrison commander, Captain Morillo, to let them leave very early the next morning; he provides a native scout called Ferdinand to guide them safely across the hills. Sharpe and Harper arrive in Puerto Crucero and are welcomed by Major Suarez, but before they can exhume the body, Sergeant Dregara catches up and arrests them. After five days in prison, they are accused by Bautista of espionage. He reveals that a coded message was found hidden in Napoleon's gift. As punishment, the Captain-General has Ferdinand executed, confiscates the riflemen's money and weapons and has them deported back to Europe on board the Espiritu Santo. Lord Cochrane, a former Royal Navy officer now in service to the Chilean rebels under Bernardo O'Higgins, ambushes the Espiritu Santo and, with the assistance of Sharpe and Harper, capture it, taking Captain Ardiles prisoner. Cochrane rendezvouses with his flagship the O'Higgins, patches up the rapidly sinking Espiritu Santo, loads Major Miller and his marines aboard the crippled ship, and sets sail for a suicidal attack upon the port of Puerto Crucero. Cochrane and Miller lead the marines ashore, with Sharpe and Harper in tow, and with supporting fire from the O'Higgins capture the citadel. Blas Vivar's grave is opened to reveal nothing but a dead dog inside. A captured Spanish soldier informs them that Blas Vivar is being held prisoner in Valdivia, so Sharpe reluctantly agrees to join Cochrane's assault on the city. Despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Cochrane sails to Valdivia, hoping his two disguised ships will be mistaken for transports bringing much-needed reinforcements. However, his ruse fails. Sharpe recommends landing on a nearby beach and leads an assault on the outlying forts. The demoralized Spanish put up token resistance before either fleeing or surrendering, resulting in little loss of life on the rebel side. Without waiting for reinforcements, Cochrane marches his small forces into the city itself, where Sharpe and Harper kill Dregara. Bautista then commits suicide. Realising that Blas Vivar is not a prisoner in Valdivia, Sharpe confronts Cochrane, who admits that he took the Spaniard prisoner and marooned him and some others on an island. Cochrane is plotting to rescue Napoleon, so he can create another empire in the New World. The coded message was Napoleon's agreement to Cochrane's scheme. Cochrane duped Sharpe because he needed his help in liberating Valdivia. Cochrane releases Blas Vivar, but holds him, Sharpe, and Harper incommunicado until the rescue ship sets sail. When they are released, the three men return to St. Helena, but are stunned to hear that Napoleon has died. Sharpe, immensely relieved that he is in no way responsible for starting another war, prepares to return home for good. Sharpe's Devil is the twelfth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series written by Bernard Cornwell and published in 1992.[1] The story is set in 1820, with Sharpe and Harper en route to Chile to find their old friend Blas Vivar. Along the way they encounter the exiled Napoleon Bonaparte and the Scottish former Royal Navy officer Lord Cochrane. Chronologically, this is the most recent book in the series, with all subsequent novels (as of 2023) depicting earlier events in Sharpe's career. Plot summary Doña Louisa Vivar, whom Sharpe befriended in Sharpe's Rifles, visits Sharpe and asks him to search for her husband, Don Blas Vivar, who disappeared while serving as Captain-General of Chile, a Spanish possession threatened by rebels. Sharpe and Harper sail to Chile with Spanish Colonel Ruiz and his regimental officers aboard the frigate Espiritu Santo, commanded by Captain Ardiles. The group decide to stop off at Saint Helena to pay a visit to exiled French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon grants an audience and asks Sharpe and Harper to remain for a private conversation. Napoleon persuades Sharpe to take a gift, a portrait of the emperor, to an admirer in Chile for him. British Consul George Blair welcomes Sharpe and Harper to the Chilean port of Valdivia and informs them that Blas Vivar's body was found and buried three months previously. Sharpe and Harper visit Captain Marquinez to arrange permission to travel to Puerto Crucero, exhume the body and return it to Spain. Back at their lodgings, they interrupt burglars who wound Harper and escape with their possessions, including Napoleon's portrait. Sharpe and Harper meet with Bautista, who announces that he has caught the thieves, whom he has branded on the spot, and returns all the stolen goods except for the portrait. When Bautista asks if everything is there, Sharpe says nothing is missing. Marquinez provides the required passes and permits and rides out with Sharpe and Harper on the first stage of their journey. Overnighting at the "Celestial Fort", Sharpe suspects that their escort, commanded by Sergeant Dregara, has orders to kill them. He persuades the garrison commander, Captain Morillo, to let them leave very early the next morning; he provides a native guide called Ferdinand to take them safely across the hills. Sharpe and Harper arrive in Puerto Crucero and are welcomed by Major Suarez, but before they can exhume the body, Sergeant Dregara catches up and arrests them. After five days in prison, they are accused by Bautista of espionage. He reveals that a coded message was found hidden in the back of the portrait. As punishment, the Captain-General has Ferdinand executed, confiscates the riflemen's money and weapons and has them put aboard the Espiritu Santo for its return trip to Europe. Lord Cochrane, a highly successful former Royal Navy admiral now in service to the Chilean rebels under Bernardo O'Higgins, uses a ruse, a seemingly disabled American whaler, to get his men aboard the Espiritu Santo and, with the assistance of Sharpe and Harper, capture it, taking Captain Ardiles prisoner. The Espiritu Santo is in great danger of sinking, but Cochrane insists on sailing to the Spanish-held port of Valdivia. Fortunately, his flagship, the O'Higgins, finds them. Cochrane loads Major Miller and his marines aboard the crippled ship, and sets sail for a seemingly suicidal attack upon the port of Puerto Crucero (not Valdivia, as the Espiritu Santo would never make it there). Cochrane and Miller lead the marines ashore, with Sharpe and Harper in tow, and with supporting fire from the O'Higgins capture the citadel. Blas Vivar's grave is opened to reveal nothing but a dead dog inside. A captured Spanish soldier informs them that Blas Vivar is being held prisoner in Valdivia, so Sharpe reluctantly agrees to join Cochrane's assault on the city. Despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Cochrane sails to Valdivia, hoping his two disguised ships will be mistaken for transports bringing much-needed artillery and reinforcements from Spain. However, his ruse fails. Sharpe recommends landing on a nearby beach and leads an assault on the outlying forts. To Sharpe's amazement, the demoralized Spanish put up token resistance before either fleeing or surrendering, resulting in little loss of life on the rebel side. Without waiting for reinforcements, Cochrane marches his small forces into the city itself, where Sharpe and Harper kill Dregara. Trapped, Bautista commits suicide. Realising that Blas Vivar is not a prisoner in Valdivia, Sharpe confronts Cochrane, who admits that he took the Spaniard prisoner. Cochrane is plotting to rescue Napoleon, so the Corsican can create another empire in the New World. The coded message was Napoleon's agreement to Cochrane's scheme. Cochrane met Blas Viva, the Count of Mouromorto, under a flag of truce to try to recruit him, having confused him for his Francophile brother; with the confusion removed, he had no choice but to maroon him and some guards on an island. Cochrane duped Sharpe because he needed his help in liberating Valdivia. Cochrane releases Blas Vivar, but holds him, Sharpe, and Harper incommunicado until the rescue ship sets sail to free Napoleon. When they are released, the three men return to Saint Helena, but are stunned to hear that Napoleon has died. Sharpe is immensely relieved that he is in no way responsible for starting another war. Characters Fictional Richard Sharpe Patrick Harper, Irish former Regimental Sergeant Major in Sharpe's regiment, who now operates a tavern in Dublin (and also acts as a fence for stolen horses). Though he is still as strong as ever, he has also become immensely fat ("a prize boar") as a result of drinking his own wares. Captain Ardiles, the reclusive and sardonic Spanish captain of the frigate Espiritu Santo Miguel Bautista, a cruel, corrupt and greedy politician who succeeds Don Vivar as Captain-General of Chile George Blair, a surly Liverpool merchant acting as British Consul in Valdivia Lucille Castineau, French noblewoman and farmer, Sharpe's common-law wife and mother of his two young children, Patrick and Dominique Ferdinand, a native scout who leads Sharpe and Harper safely across the mountains and is executed as punishment by Bautista Sergeant Dregara, a Spanish soldier who does Baustista’s dirty work Captain Marquinez, a young and "strikingly handsome" Spanish officer who facilitates Sharpe's mission Major Miller, British marine commander working for Cochrane Captain Morillo, Spanish commander of the Celestial Fort who warns Sharpe of an ambush and is demoted to private and sent to the mines as punishment by Bautista Major Suarez, Spanish commander of the Chilean port of Puerto Crucero who arrests and imprisons Sharpe and Harper after their arrival. Lieutenant Otero, first officer of the frigate Espiritu Santo who tells Sharpe of the rebel admiral, Scottish Lord Cochrane Colonel Ruiz, commander of a Spanish artillery regiment who travels to Chile with Sharpe Don Blas Vivar, aristocratic Spanish military commander who befriended Sharpe in Sharpe's Rifles Doña Louisa Vivar, wife of Don Vivar who Sharpe had first known as Miss Parker in Sharpe’s Rifles ********************************************************************************************************** 24.3 1822 6 18 aa24.25Banquetbb Sharpe encounters Prince of Orange for first time since Waterloo. Attends Wellington’s Waterloo Banquet ********************************************************************************************************** 24.5 1822 10 20 aaCongressaa Congress of Verona Accompanies Wellington to Congress of Verona