Plot
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 naval 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 , joins the expedition at the last minute. Sharpe fears his wife Jane is sick with fever, as she has been regularly visiting his good friend Lieutenant Colonel Hogan, who is dying of it.
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 American 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 with a company of Royal Marines led by Captain Palmer to set up an ambush, while Bampfylde writes an official report wherein he claims all of the glory and does not mention Sharpe at all.
Sharpe ambushes a French column, using surprise to rout an inexperienced force three or four times larger than his own. As the French regroup, he retreats back to the fortress. There, de Maquerre claims Bordeaux has risen in open rebellion and insists that Sharpe march his men there to support it, showing him a document make him a "Major General" in the "Royalist Army". Sharpe refuses, distrusting him, but de Maquerre reaches the fortress first and informs Bampfylde that Sharpe's force has been destroyed, that Sharpe himself has been captured, and that a strong French force is rapidly approaching. De Maquerre is an agent of French spymaster Major Pierre Ducos. Bampfylde strips the fortress of supplies, spikes the guns, damages the defences and blows up the main arsenal. He then sails away.
Hours later, Sharpe returns to a partially ruined and deserted fortress. 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 piles of burned oyster shells (quicklime) 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 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 an escape in exchange for releasing Killick from his oath. The next morning, Sharpe surrenders to him. Calvet rejects the surrender and personally leads an attack, but Sharpe fights a delaying action, and he and his men manage to board the American privateer. Killick lands Sharpe close to British lines.
Sharpe reaches the newly completed floating bridge, exposes Bampfylde as a liar, and kills de Maquerre. To his relief, he finds out Jane only had a cold. However, Hogan has died.
Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of British soldier Richard Sharpe. The stories formed the basis for an ITV television series featuring Sean Bean in the title role.
Sharpe is a British television drama series starring Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, with Irish actor Daragh O'Malley playing his second in command Patrick Harper. Sharpe and Harper are the heroes of the Sharpe series of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books. Produced by Celtic Films and Picture Palace Films for the ITV network, the series was filmed mainly in Crimea, with recording of other episodes in Turkey, England, Portugal and Spain. The two final episodes were filmed in India.
Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Oporto is the seventh historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 2003.
Sharpe's Rifles is chronologically the sixth, but the ninth published, historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1988.
Sharpe's Eagle is a historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1981. The story is set in July 1809, in the midst of the Talavera Campaign during the Peninsular War. It was the first Sharpe novel published, but eighth in the series' chronological order.
Sharpe's Gold is the second historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell first published in 1981. The story is set in August 1810 and features the destruction of Almeida during the Peninsular War.
Sharpe's Battle is the twelfth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1995. The story is set during the Peninsular War in Spain in 1811.
Sharpe's Sword is a historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. It is the fourth in the series, being first published in 1983, though the fourteenth chronologically. Set in the summer of 1812 including the Battle of Salamanca on 22 July 1812, the story follows Sharpe and his friend Sergeant Harper involved in espionage while hunting down the sadistic and highly dangerous Colonel Philippe Leroux.
Sharpe's Escape is the twenty-third historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, published in 2004. Sharpe is embroiled in the British retreat through Portugal in 1810 from the defence of the ridge at Bussaco to the Lines of Torres Vedras, where the French offensive is successfully halted.
Sharpe's Revenge is the nineteenth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series written by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1989. The peace of 1814 formally ends the Peninsular War, but it does not end all hostilities among individuals.
Sharpe's Rifles is the first of the Sharpe television dramas, based on Bernard Cornwell's 1988 novel of the same name. Shown on ITV in 1993, the adaptation stars Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley and Assumpta Serna. It began a long series of successful and critically acclaimed television adaptations of the novels.
Sharpe's Revenge is a British television drama, the 12th of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. The adaptation is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Bernard Cornwell.
Sharpe's Honour is the sixteenth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1985. In the Vitoria Campaign of the Peninsula War in 1813, Sharpe is framed for murder. He must find a way to clear his name to preserve the fragile alliance between Britain and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars.
Sharpe's Mission is a British television drama, the 11th of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. Unlike most of the other installments of the series, this episode was not based on a novel by Bernard Cornwell.
Sharpe's Siege is a British television drama, the tenth of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. The adaptation is based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Bernard Cornwell.
Sharpe's Enemy is a British television drama, the fourth of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, a British soldier during the Napoleonic Wars. This episode is based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Bernard Cornwell.
Sharpe's Enemy: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of Portugal, Christmas 1812 is the fifteenth historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell, first published in 1984. The story is set in 1812 during the Napoleonic Wars.
"Sharpe's Skirmish" is a historical short story by Bernard Cornwell in the Richard Sharpe series.
"Sharpe's Ransom" is a short story written by historical fiction author Bernard Cornwell. It features Cornwell's fictional hero Richard Sharpe. It was originally written for the British newspaper the Daily Mail, which serialised it during the 1995 Christmas season. In 2003 the Sharpe Appreciation Society combined it with another short story, "Sharpe's Christmas", in the collection Sharpe's Christmas.
