Sharpe - The Novels
Created | Updated Feb 19, 2007
Through Flanders, Portugal and Spain
King George commands and we obey
Over the hills and far away"
- Theme from Sharpe TV series1
Sharpe the Man
His Background
Richard Sharpe was born the illegitimate child of a London prostitute sometime in the mid to late 1700s (Sharpe himself is unsure as to his birth date). Brought up in the seedy London rookeries along the Thames embankment young Sharpe soon found himself living as a ward of the borough in the local work house picking apart tar encrusted ropes as hard labour. After suffering the brutality of this life he took to a life of petty crime, running errands for local gangsters and thievery. It was after a bungled robbery that Richard decided London was getting a little bit busy for him, so he ran away to Yorkshire. It is in Yorkshire that Sharpe joins the army, the 33rd Regiment of Foot or the 'Havercakes'2. Young Richard serves under the Duke of York in Flanders before being sent to India where his adventures begin.
Enemies, Allies and Women
Sgt. Obadiah Hakeswill
Major Pierre Ducos
Sir Henry Simmerson
Sgt. Major Patrick Harper
Although at first hostile as Sharpe's been made up from the ranks, and therefore not a 'proper officer', the huge Irishman soon makes himself Sharpe's protector, best friend and confidant.
Due to his natural leadership qualities Sharpe makes him a sergeant, the NCO in direct line between officers and men in a company, and finally a sergeant major, the most senior NCO rank.
Harper finds it difficult sometimes to see where his loyalties should lie, with the British who have his homeland under occupation or Ireland his native land, he decides his true loyalties are to Sharpe and the Chosen Men.
His diligence in the role of protector can best be seen in the book Sharpe's Sword when he forges the badly wounded Sharpe a new sword after his is broken in a fight3.
Isabella Harper
Sir Arthur Wellesley
It seems a little redundant to write much about this great man when there is a perfectly good article about him here I should say a little about him as Mr. Cornwell's fictional character though.
Wellesley in the novels is shown to be a ruthless general, not afraid to throw men to the wolves to gain the advantage. Although he made Sharpe up from the ranks for saving his life and giving his career a nudge in the right direction he is not above using him either as bait or a fall guy in the political world he lives in, this is seen to great effect in Sharpe's Battle and Sharpe's Honour.
Daniel Hagman and the Chosen Men
The Chosen Men were not much in evidence during the novels; they were more an invention of the TV company to give Sharpe a close knit group of associates to fall back on, though some mention of them should be made as they appear in latter novels (publishing dates rather than Sharpe's chronology).
'Chosen Man' is an early form of the rank lance-corporal in the British army; these men in reality were given command of a small unit (usually eight to ten men) and often became more senior NCOs4.
The Chosen Men were Rifleman Daniel Hagman, Rifleman Isaiah Tongue, Rifleman Harris, Rifleman Cooper and Rifleman Ben Perkins.
Hagman was a Cheshire poacher given the choice of gaol or the army5. His experience as a poacher gave Hagman a distinct advantage as a skirmisher and made him a crack marksman. As the oldest of the Chosen Men he is often seen as a father figure with a calming influence on the younger men.
Tongue was a morose individual prone to quoting scripture (or what passed for scripture among the Chosen Men)
Cooper was the 'smart mouth' of the group and always able to stun Sharpe with a smart quip.
Harris was an ex-teacher with a weakness for drink and probably the best educated of the Chosen Men, fluent in French he was invaluable when enemy communications were captured.
Perkins was the youngest of the Chosen Men; originally the company standard bearer Sharpe made him a Chosen Man after ambush in Sharpe's Rifles where a French chasseur had Sharpe in his sights and was promptly shot by young Ben.
Commandante Teresa Moreno
Commandante Teresa, the Spanish aristocrat turned partisan leader, had seen her family murdered by the French. She herself was raped, and as a result, she is fiercely determined to drive the French out of Spain. She joined the partisans, and her notable skill with a sword earned her the title 'The Needle.' She becomes Sharpe's lover and has a daughter Antonia to Sharpe before she is murdered.
Sharpe's Timeline
India
SHARPE'S TIGER. Richard Sharpe and the siege of Seringapatam (1799)Where we meet a young, cocky and bored Richard Sharpe for the first time. Sharpe is a private in the 33rd, thinking of deserting the army if Sgt. Hakeswill doesn't manage to kill him first.
The story opens with Hakeswill desperately trying to set Sharpe up with a charge, but failing because of Sharpe's friend Tom Garrard and his supporters among the officers, Lt. Lawson and Ensign Fitzgerald. It is because Lawford looks out for Sharpe that Hakeswill implies that they are 'special friends'6. This is when Sharpe makes the mistake of hitting Hakeswill: sentenced to 1,000 lashes for his crime Sharpe looks set to die. Meanwhile Lt Lawford is refusing to go on a secret mission to spy out the Tippoo Sultan's lands without Sharpe so he is spared after 'only' 202 lashes. This is a sensible move on Lawford's part because the street smart Sharpe manages to keep them alive as the mission stumbles from one disaster to the next as Sharpe and Lawford are caught, tortured, freed, betrayed and captured again. It is while in the Tippoo's dungeon Sharpe meets the irascible old Scot Colonel McCandless and he and Lawford teach Sharpe to read opening the way to promotion for him.
SHARPE'S TRIUMPH. Richard Sharpe and the battle of Assaye (1803)
Sharpe's Triumph opens with a supply train he is in charge of being ambushed by the rebellious Maharatta forces; Sergeant Sharpe is the only survivor and swears revenge on the traitor who led the ambush, an East India Company deserter named Dodd.
Later Sharpe is assigned to Colonel McCandless on a reconnaissance mission to evaluate the Maharatta's forces and maybe bring Dodd to justice. While with McCandless Sharpe meets the Maharatta's European General, Anthony Pohlman, and is made a very exiting offer; a commission in the Maharatta's army. Sharpe is sorely tempted by the offer but ultimately refuses when Dodd arranges for his and McCandless' horses and kit to be stolen as an insult. Sharpe confides his ambitions for betterment to McCandless. Who is at first dubious as to the wisdom of these ambitions, but comes to think Sharpe may be able to pull it off when he buys him a new mount showing he has a large stash of wealth.
The action then moves on to the battle of Assaye where Sharpe is given the role of 'spare horse holder' for Sir Arthur Wellesley. It is when Wellesley is dismounted and attacked by a group of enemy soldiers that Sharpe comes into his own and saves the future Duke of Wellington's life. McCandless persuades Sir Arthur to give Sharpe a field commission to the rank of ensign against his better judgement.
SHARPE'S FORTRESS. Richard Sharpe and the siege of Gawilghur(1803)
Between Campaigns
SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR. Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Trafalgar (1803)SHARPE'S PREY. Richard Sharpe and the Expedition to Copenhagen (1807)
The Peninsular
SHARPE'S RIFLES. Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia (1809)Sharpe's Company, where he is a lowly quartermaster7 are on the long retreat from Corunna with Sir John Moore's army, food is short and morale is low. Unfortunately there is an ambush where Richard Sharpe and the chosen men are separated from the army. The other officers are killed in the ambush and an unpopular Lieutenant Sharpe is left in command. The men are close to mutiny and Sharpe is brawling with Harper when he is rescued by the Spanish noble Major Blas Vivar. Blas Vivar persuades Sharpe to join him and his men on his secret mission to raise the morale of the Spanish people in their fight against the French invaders.
SHARPE'S HAVOC. Richard Sharpe in 1809 in Oporto, Portugal
SHARPE'S EAGLE. Richard Sharpe and the Talavera Campaign (1809)
Where Sharpe is assigned to the South Essex Regiment under Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson. Sir Henry lusting for glory in the Peninsular has raised his own regiment under his own command. His nephew Christian Gibbons commands the Light Company and is Sharpe's direct superior. Captain Gibbons has a young Portuguese woman named Josephina under his protection where she is little more than a slave. Sharpe, of course, rescues the young woman from her enslavement.
During a simple guarding exercise the King's Colour8 is captured by the French. Sharpe blames Simmerson and Gibbons for the loss and is determined to regain the regiment’s honour by capturing a French Eagle9. It is during the main battle at Talavera that Sharpe and Harper murder Captain Gibbons as he tries to steal the captured Eagle from our heroes.
SHARPE'S GOLD. Richard Sharpe and the Destruction of Almeida (1810)
It is in this one Sharpe meets Teresa Moreno10, the daughter of partisan leader Cesar Moreno, promised to a vicious partisan named El Catolico who is after the gold. Sharpe is after the Spanish gold for the army which doesn't exactly endear him to El Catolico (that and Sharpie is after his woman). The partisans hold the village where the gold is hidden, Sharpe manages to take the village and find the gold. Then he and the man escape into the hills while Teresa distracts the pursuing partisans.
The action now moves to Almeida where Sharpe finds his old friend Tom Garrard, from India, now a captain in the Portuguese army. Sharpe and the partisans evade each other until Sharpe blows the town’s arsenal and escapes in the confusion.
SHARPE'S BATTLE. Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro (1811)
This is the first time all the Chosen Men are in one of the novels.
Sharpe and the Chosen Men are given the job of turning a Spanish regiment, the Réal Compania d'Irlandesa into real soldiers. The regiment is made up of expatriate Irishmen under Lord Kiely, an Irish noble, and has been on ceremonial duties for the most part.
Sharpe and Kiely are sent, with the men, to guard Fuentes de Onoro with the partisan Juanita and an Irish priest named Fr Sarsfield. On the way to Fuentes de Onoro Sharpe disturbs some French soldiers sacking a small village: upon finding that the French are indulging in some 'rape and pillage' Sharpe orders his prisoners summarily executed. The French officer, Colonel Loup, is horrified at this, although justified, breach of the rules of war and swears revenge on Sharpe and his men.
Meanwhile Hogan, Wellesley's spy master has ordered Sharpe to execute Sarsfield who, it turns out, is a French spy in league with Juanita, who has become 'friendly' with Lord Kiely. Sarsfield and Juanita are distributing forged US newspapers among the Irish in Wellesley’s army detailing British atrocities back in Ireland in an attempt to get them to desert.
SHARPE'S COMPANY. Richard Sharpe and the siege of Badajoz (1812)
Sharpe's Company starts out with the siege of Cuidad Rodrigo where Sharpe's patron Lawford loses his arm. This is quite a tender moment for one of the Sharpe novels as you can feel Sharpe's pain for his friend and patron. Teresa also tells Sharpe he has a daughter who is in her father's house in Badajoz.
There is an intake of new men and officers into the regiment which sees Sharpe relegated to quartermaster again. To add insult to injury we see the return of the malodorous Hakeswill, now a sergeant in the South Essex. Hakeswill is soon back on form, threatening to rape Teresa and framing Harper with stealing a silver framed picture of the new colonel's wife so that he is flogged and demoted to rifleman.
Sharpe and the Chosen Men are set to digging trenches in preparation for the siege of Badajoz while the artillery tries to breach the walls.
Once the breach is formed Sharpe asks to command the 'Forlorn Hope'11, so he can retain his captaincy and get to Teresa's father's house where his daughter is, and is refused.
With the breach 'practicable' the assault starts in earnest. The officer commanding the Forlorn Hope is killed and so the assault looks like failing until Sharpe takes command. In the confusion Hakeswill, who has been found out in his theft, deserts the army.
SHARPE'S SWORD. Richard Sharpe and the Salamanca Campaign (1812)
Sharpe's Sword begins with Sharpe and the Chosen Men once again asked to do Hogan's dirty work by capturing Le Roux, a French spy, who has discovered the identity of Wellesley's most valuable spy in Spain, El Mirador. Sharpe believes he has already caught Le Roux, recognising him by the Klingenthal sword he carries. Le Roux tricks Sharpe's colonel during a court of enquiry into paroling him and the hunt is on.
Accompanied By Lord Jack Spears, an impoverished noble employed as an exploring officer, Sharpe and the Chosen Men are now hunting for Le Roux. At the fort of Villa Franca Simmerson turns up with Helene, the wife of a Spanish noble, and declares that the town is free of cannon, so it is safe to pass. Suddenly the non-existent cannon open up and all hell is let lose allowing Le Roux to escape into the fort.
Sharpe decides on a night attack on the fort to capture Le Roux. The attack is a complete disaster and a badly wounded Sharpe is left for dead on the battle field. The next day Harper combs the battle field looking for his friend, while Jack ride off to get some cannon. Harper finds him in the infirmary of a local convent Fr Curtis, the priest for the convent, tells Harper that Sharpe is in the dying room
SHARPE'S ENEMY. Richard Sharpe and the Defence of Portugal (1812)
Sharpe's Enemy sees the return of Josephina from Sharpe's Eagle now hired for the duration of the war by an elderly Colonel, Sir Augustus Farthingdale. Hakeswill, who deserted in Sharpe's Company, is now joint leader of a deserter army with Pot a'Feu , a French army chef.
Hakeswill's deserters capture Josephina and the English wife of a French officer and hold them for ransom. Sharpe is given the duty of obtaining the release of Josephina and is given a company of the 60th Rifles lead by Captain William 'Sweet William' Fredrickson, a German officer sporting a wig, false teeth and an eye patch, to aid him in the rescue. Sharpe and Harper enter the disused convent where Josephina is being held only to be attacked by the French officer and his sergeant in a set up arranged by the malicious Hakeswill. Hakeswill shows the women to Sharpe and immediately ups the ransom.
Farthingdale refuses the new ransom demand and tells Sharpe to rescue his wife. To do this Sharpe must take the village where the convent is, then the convent itself and finally the tower within the convent where the prisoners are being held.
Meanwhile Major Pierre Ducos, a French intelligence officer, has realised that the pass where the village is could be used as a route back into Portugal for the French army.
Sharpe succeeds in rescuing the prisoners and now needs to hold the village until reinforcements arrive. Sharpe managers to corner Hakeswill during the capture of the convent where Hakeswill curses Sharpe, which almost paralyses him with fear as he is an especially superstitious character in the novels, allowing Hakeswill to escape.
The French under command of the French officer aided by Ducos are thwarted in their attempt to take the village. Ducos then tells the French officer he cannot bargain with the British for the return of his wife. Sharpe, being Sharpe, returns the woman to him and breaks Ducos' spectacles earning himself another powerful enemy.
During the battle Hakeswill has managed to waylay Teresa and kill her before being captured by British forces. Finding her body Sharpe is inconsolable and breaks up the rifleman doll Teresa has made for their daughter. Back in camp Sharpe resists Hagan’s entire attempt to make him feel better. When Hakeswill is finally court martialed and taken before the firing squad it is Sharpe who administers the coup de grace in revenge.
SHARPE'S HONOUR. Richard Sharpe and the Vittoria Campaign (1813)
Sharpe's Honour starts with a fantastic bluff where Sharpe convinces a French company to surrender whilst having no ammunition, his having gotten wet in a river earlier.
Sharpe is still grieving over Teresa's death and seems to be picking fights with anyone and everyone. With this in mind Sharpe accepts the challenge of a duel with the Marquese de Casares el Grande y Melida Sadaba, a famed duellist, over his alleged adultery with his wife Helene, a half English, half French double agent, in Sharpe's Sword. Sharpe's friend D'Alembord tries to teach Sharpe the finer points of swordsmanship with little success. The duel follows with the Marquese beating Sharpe until he starts to lose his temper and turns the formal duel into a street fight. Later that night the Marquese is murdered in his tent by El Matarife and his brother the inquisitor Fr Hacha. Helene immediately runs for it with the Marquesses treasure back to the French lines. Sharpe is accused of the murder, tried, convicted and executed.
The end of Sharpe you may think, but no the trial is a cunning plan by Wellesley to allow Sharpe to find out about the information leak that his army is suffering. Accompanied by Frederickson he travels into the country side to find Helena only to be captured by El Matarife's band of partisans. There he discovers that Helene is being held in a near by convent and her treasure has been confiscated under the orders of Fr Hacha. Sharpe bursts into the convent and rescues Helene from the nuns.
While travelling back to British lines Sharpe and Helene are captured by the French and taken to a fortified village where Sharpe discovers that Ducos is behind all the shenanigans. Meanwhile Frederickson has avoided capture and returned to the British encampment to find help for Sharpe.
Ducos beats Sharpe during his questioning, then Helene's real love, Colonel Verigny tries to apologies for this behaviour by inviting Sharpe to dinner. Sharpe still refuses to sign parole papers or promise not to escape. The next morning a battered and hung-over Sharpe manages to take advantage of the accidental explosion of the French magazine and escapes.
Avoiding French patrols and the partisans, all of whom are searching for him, Sharpe makes his way back to the British army just in time to lead the South Essex in the assault on Vittoria, rescue Helena when her carriage over-turns and steal the treasure.
SHARPE'S CHRISTMAS. Richard Sharpe and Christmas in the Pyrenees (1813)
SHARPE'S REGIMENT. Richard Sharpe and the invasion of France (1813)
Afterwards
SHARPE'S SIEGE. Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign (1814)SHARPE'S REVENGE. Richard Sharpe and the Peace of 1814
SHARPE'S WATERLOO. Richard Sharpe and the Waterloo Campaign (1815)
SHARPE'S RANSOM. Richard Sharpe and Christmas, Normandy 1816
SHARPE'S DEVIL. Richard Sharpe and the Emperor (1820-21)
All none historical names and events are ©Bernard Cornwell. There is no intention to suggest otherwise. No permissions given.
1Sung by John Tams the actor who played Daniel Hagman in the TV series2they got this nickname because of the recruiting sergeant's habit of bribing men with oatcakes3Harper believes that Sharpe will recover from his terrible wounds if he can see his new sword4Non-Commissioned Officer5This was common practice during this era when the army wasn't well thought of and prison life was harsh6He calls Sharpe Lawford's 'lily boy'7Men made up from the ranks were usually given the job of quartermaster as it was thought that those not born to the officer class were unable to command the men and were likely to turn to drink8Each regiment had two colours (banners) the Regimental Colour and the King's Colour. Regiments routinely took their colours into battle and it was a great dishonour for a regiment to lose them. There are many stories of soldiers fighting to the last man to prevent this from happening9The French equivalent of a King's Colour. Touched by the hand of Napoleon himself10He meets her in Sharpe's Rifles in the TV Movies11So named because the first men to assault a breach in a city's or fortresses' walls inevitably died. Men only volunteered for this suicidal detail as those who survived were generally rewarded with promotion or a pardon for their crimes in the military
