''Sharpe's Escape'' is the twenty-third (tenth in chronological order)
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...
in the
Richard Sharpe series by
Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...
, published in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
. 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.
Plot summary
Part One: Bussaco
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Richard Sharpe and his riflemen rejoin the
South Essex Regiment during
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
's retreat in Portugal. Sharpe is in a foul mood because Lieutenant Cornelius Slingsby has been foisted on him by the South Essex's commander, Colonel William Lawford, at the insistence of Lawford's wife in England (Slingsby's sister-in-law) to advance the latter's career. Sharpe believes Lawford is seeking to ease him out and replace him with Slingsby as commander of the South Essex's
Light Company.
Sharpe discovers a
Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Portuguese Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its ...
major, Ferreira, and his criminal brother, nicknamed "
Ferragus" due to his size and strength, 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
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
officer for the Portuguese Army with contacts among the
Portuguese sympathisers in the French Army; Ferreira claims 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, and 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
column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
s. Sharpe takes charge and narrowly averts disaster. Afterward, Slingsby complains to Lawford, who orders Sharpe to apologise for his harsh language. Sharpe refuses, and Lawford assigns him to replace the regimental
quartermaster
Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...
, confirming Slingsby as captain of the Light Company.
Part Two: Coimbra
Sharpe is sent ahead to
Coimbra
Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of .
The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...
to prepare
billet
In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...
s for the regiment. His friend, Portuguese Captain Jorge Vicente (whom he met in ''
Sharpe's Havoc''), 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
Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
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 pry up the floor and break into a sewer, through which they escape. By the time they emerge, the British Army has left and the French are raping, pillaging and murdering the city residents. 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 much of the supplies. Ferragus and his brother have already been paid by the French for their stores, but flee the city when they see the warehouse burning, realising they will be blamed for its loss.
Part Three: The Lines of Torres Vedras
Marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used fo ...
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 surrender offer, 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 is threatening 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 had enough of Slingsby's drunkenness and incompetence, irritably tells Sharpe to stop being "tedious."
Characters
* Captain
Richard Sharpe - OC Light Company,
South Essex Regiment
* Sergeant
Patrick Harper - sergeant in the British army, close friend and ally to Richard Sharpe
* Lieutenant Cornelius Slingsby - Sharpe's second-in-command
* Major Pedro Ferreira -
Portuguese intelligence officer
* Sarah Fry - stranded English governess
* Luis Ferreira, aka "Ferragus" - Portuguese criminal, former slave trader and brother of Major Ferreira
* Major Michael Hogan - engineer for the British army and intelligence officer
* Colonel
William Lawford - Sharpe's commanding officer
* Captain
Jorge Vicente - Portuguese army, Sharpe's friend
* Joana Jacinto - Portuguese girl, saved from the sack of Coimbra by Sharpe and Harper
* Rifleman Matthew Dodd - separated from the company during a battle; a homage to
C. S. Forester's ''
Death to the French'', also known as ''Rifleman Dodd''
Historical
*
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
Viscount
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty.
In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
*General
Robert "Black Bob" Craufurd
*General Sir
Thomas Picton
*
Marshals of France
Marshal of France (, plural ') is a French military distinction, rather than a military rank, that is awarded to generals for exceptional achievements. The title has been awarded since 1185, though briefly abolished (1793–1804) and for a period ...
André Masséna
André Masséna, prince d'Essling, duc de Rivoli (; born Andrea Massena; 6 May 1758 – 4 April 1817), was a French military commander of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original eighteen Marshal of the ...
and
Michel Ney
Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
The son of ...
*Generals
Jean-Andoche Junot,
Jean Reynier and
Jacques Thomas Sarrut
External links
Section from Bernard Cornwell's website on ''Sharpe's Escape''
{{Bernard Cornwell
2004 British novels
Escape
Fiction set in 1810
Novels set in the 1810s
HarperCollins books
Peninsular War in fiction