Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes, August 1812 Free

Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes, August 1812 Free

FREE SHARPES SKIRMISH: RICHARD AND THE DEFENCE OF THE TORMES, AUGUST 1812 PDF

Bernard Cornwell | 64 pages | 03 Sep 2002 | The Sharpe Appreciation Society | 9780972222006 | English | Nottingham, United Kingdom Sharpe (novel series) - Wikipedia

The first entry to the series, Sharpe's Eaglewas published in with the last, Sharpe's Furyreleased in As , many of the events depicted in the novels were based on true historical events. In the ensuing years, Cornwell has filled out Sharpe's history, August 1812 novels covering his time from the beginning of his career in the ranks and as an . The publication chronology has little to do with Sharpe's timeline. Cornwell also wrote two short stories - Sharpe's Skirmish and Sharpe's Christmas - for publication in the British newspaper, Daily Mail. This wiki. This wiki Sharpes Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes wikis. Sign In Don't have an account? Start a Wiki. Categories :. Cancel Save. Universal Conquest Wiki. Sharpe's Tiger. Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam Sharpe's Triumph. Richard Sharpe and the Battle of AssayeSeptember Sharpe's Fortress. Richard Sharpe and the Siege of GawilghurDecember Sharpe's Trafalgar. Richard Sharpe and the , October Sharpe's Prey. Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Sharpe's Rifles. Sharpe's Havoc. Sharpe's . Richard Sharpe and the Talavera Campaign, July Sharpe's Gold. Richard Sharpe and the Destruction of AlmeidaAugust Sharpe's Escape. Richard Sharpe and the Battle of BussacoSeptember Sharpe's Fury. Sharpe's Battle. Sharpe's Company. Sharpe's Sword. Sharpe's Skirmish. Sharpe's Enemy. Sharpe's Honour. Sharpe's Regiment. Sharpe's Christmas. Sharpe's Siege. Sharpe's Revenge. Sharpe's Waterloo. Sharpe's Ransom. Sharpe's Devil. Sharpe (novel series) | Sharpe | Fandom

Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by centered on the character of Richard Sharpe. Cornwell's series is composed of many novels and several short stories, and charts Sharpe's progress in the during the . He begins in Sharpe's Tiger as a in the 33rd Regiment of Foot who becomes a sergeant by the end of the book; he is an ensign in the 74th Regiment during Sharpe's Trafalgar who is transferred to the newly formed 95th Rifles as a second . He is gradually promoted through the ranks, finally becoming a in Sharpe's Waterloo. Sharpe is born to a whore in the rookeries of , and the stories dramatize his struggle for acceptance and respect from his fellow officers and from the men whom he commands. He is made an officeran ensignwhen he saves the life of his commanding officer, Arthur Wellesley the future Duke of Wellingtonduring the in India. It is a mixed blessing, as he constantly has to fight class prejudice in an army where an officer's rank is often Sharpes Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes without regard to qualification. He is an experienced soldier, unlike many of Sharpes Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes officers with Sharpes Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes he serves. His adventures result in his improbable presence at nearly every important battle of the British Empire at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. Sharpe is described as "brilliant but wayward" in Sharpe's Swordand he is portrayed by the author as a "loose cannon". He is a highly skilled leader of light troops who takes part in a range of historical events during the Napoleonic Wars and other conflicts, including the . He is considered dangerous to have as an enemy; he is a skilled marksman and grows to be a good swordsman. The books were published in non-chronological order, but in most of them he is a rifle officer armed with a Heavy Cavalry Sword and a Baker riflealthough he has also acquired a pistol August 1812 Sharpe's Waterloo. He is described as being six feet tall with an angular, tanned face, long black hair, and blue eyes. His most obvious physical characteristic is a deep scar on his right cheek which pulls at his right eye, giving his face a mocking expression when relaxed; this disappears when he smiles, which is not too frequently. By the end of the series, he has had two wives and three children. Cornwell enjoyed C. Forester 's Horatio Hornblower novels, which depict a officer's career. When he could not find a similar series for the British Armyhe decided to write it himself. While he struggled to come up with a name as distinctive as Horatio Hornblower, he used a placeholder based on the rugby union player Richard Sharp ; eventually, he kept it, just adding an "e". played Sharpe in the British television series Sharpe. Cornwell was so impressed with Bean's portrayal that he expanded Sharpe's backstory to have him growing up in Yorkshire to account for Bean's accent. The author also avoided further mention of Sharpe's black hair Bean's hair being light brown. Richard Sharpe is born in London circa 26 June he believes that he may be 22 during the early months of to a prostitute residing in "Cat Lane", and a French smuggler. When Sharpe is three, his mother is killed in the Gordon Riotsleaving him an orphan. With no other known relatives to claim him, Sharpe is deposited in Jem Hocking's foundling home at Brewhouse Lane, Wappingwhere he spends his days picking his assigned quota of oakum. He is malnourished and regularly beaten, resulting in his being undersized for his age. Because of this, he is eventually sold to a master chimney sweep to train as an apprentice at the relatively late age of Fearing the high mortality rate among apprentice sweeps who are forced to climb inside chimneys and remove the soot by handSharpe flees to the Rookery slum of St Gilesand is taken in by August 1812 and later bar owner Maggie Joyce. He stays under Maggie's protection for three years, learning various forms of thieving. After killing a gang leader during a fight over Maggie, he escapes from London to Yorkshire at the age of fifteen by creating this back story, Bernard Cornwell made the actor Sean Bean's Yorkshire accent part of the canon of the series. It is possible that Sharpe learned to play cricket in Yorkshire, as in Sharpe's Waterloo the Duke of Wellington attests that "Sharpe bowls fiendish". Within six months of his arrival in Yorkshire, Sharpe kills a second man, the landlord of the tavern where he is working, in a fight over a local girl. To avoid arrest, Sharpe takes the " King's shilling ", joining the 33rd Footas a result of the blandishments of recruiting sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill. The regiment popularly known as "The Havercakes", due to the oatcake the recruiting sergeants display on their bayonets to attract hungry potential recruits is first sent to Flanders inwhere Sharpe fights in his first battle, at Boxtel. The next year, he and his regiment are posted to India under the August 1812 of the British . InSharpe is sentenced to 2, lashes effectively a death sentence for striking a sergeant, with the connivance of his company commander, Captain Charles Morrisbut is released after only by executive order Sharpe's Tiger. They join the Tippoo Sultan 's army, posing as British deserters, but are later exposed and imprisoned. Lawford teaches Sharpe to read and write whilst they languish in the Tippoo's dungeon. Sharpe escapes during the Siege of Seringapatam and destroys a mine meant to devastate the British army. He then kills the Tippoo Sultan unobserved and steals a fortune of jewels from the corpse. He is promoted to sergeant for August 1812 efforts. Sharpe serves four uneventful years as a sergeant. Inhe is the sole survivor of a massacre of the garrison of a small fort carried out by a turncoat Company officer, William Dodd Sharpe's Triumph. As a result, he is taken by McCandless on a mission to identify and capture Dodd. Their search takes them first to the siege of Ahmednuggur and then the Battle of Assaye. When Wellesley's orderly is killed in the early stages of the battle, Sharpe takes his place, and so is at hand August 1812 Wellesley is unhorsed alone and among the enemy. Sharpe single-handedly saves the general's life, killing numerous enemy soldiers and holding the rest at bay until help finally arrives. He is rewarded with a battlefield Sharpes Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes for this act of bravery and joins the 74th Regiment as an ensign. Both Sharpe and his new colleagues find it difficult to adjust to Sharpe's new status and role, and his superiors in the 74th arrange for him to be transferred to the newly formed 95th Rifles Regiment. Before leaving India, he takes part in the assault on Gawilghurcommanding troops in action for the first time. Once inside the fortress, Sharpe finally confronts Dodd and kills him, receiving a scar on his right cheek Sharpe's Fortress. While travelling from India to England to take up his post in the 95th Rifles, inSharpe is caught up in the Battle of Trafalgarhis first direct encounter with and its European allies as an Infantry officer. On the journey he also meets and falls in love with Lady Grace Hale, the wife of a politician Sharpe's Trafalgar. Grace sets up home with Sharpe at Shorncliffebut dies giving birth to their child, who survives her by only a few hours. Sharpe's fortune is assumed by the lawyers to be part of Grace's estate and seized. Sharpe falls into a deep depression, worsened by conflict with other officers in the Rifles, who relegate him to the role of quartermasterand leave him behind when the regiment is posted to the Baltic in Sharpe, unable to sell his commission, plans to desert. He returns to Wapping to rob and kill Jem Hocking, the abusive master of the foundling home where Sharpe was raised. Before Sharpe can disappear with the stolen cash, he encounters General Bairda former colleague from India, who recruits him to protect John Lavisser, a Foreign Office agent sent to negotiate with the Danish Crown Prince. Lavisser betrays Sharpe, and forces him into hiding in CopenhagenAugust 1812 he witnesses the bombardment of the city and the British capture of the Danish fleet Sharpe's Prey. In Sharpe's PreySharpe is now referred to as a second lieutenant because, as a light infantry unit of the British army, there are no Colours and thus no ensigns in the Rifles. Sharpe is now a lieutenant in the 95th Rifles, having been promoted, most likely thanks to seniority. This view is further supported by the August 1812 of Warren Dunnett. This means that the old of the Second Battalion August 1812 the 95th Rifles died in Dunnett, being the senior captain, took his place. The senior lieutenant in the battalion became a captain and Sharpe, as the senior second lieutenant, became a lieutenant. The promotion takes place after Sharpe's Preybut before Sharpe's Rifles. By earlySharpe is in with the 95th Rifles, undertaking the terrible hardships of the rearguard of the retreat to Corunna. Captain Murray is mortally wounded during the battle, and leaves his heavy cavalry sword to Sharpe, giving him his signature weapon used in all the subsequent books. Cut off from the main body of the army, he is forced to take command of a handful of surviving but mutinous riflemen including Patrick Harperwhile protecting a small party of English missionaries and assisting Spanish partisans in the temporary liberation of the city of Sharpe's Rifles. Sharpe's surviving riflemen that began the retreat to Corunna were:. Some riflemen were awarded the rank of Chosen Man. Chosen Men were the Napoleonic era's equivalent of today's lance corporal. The rank was unofficial insomuch as it was used only within the company, with commanding officers able to promote and demote at will those who were chosen to wear the single white armband which denoted Chosen Men. They were usually spared ordinary duties, and often went on to become NCOs. In the Sharpe television seriesthe rank of Chosen Man is used to denote a special unit within the company, where all the riflemen are Chosen Men. After making their way to Portugal, and taking part in the Battle of the DouroSharpe and his surviving 30 riflemen are attached August 1812 the Light Company of the South Essex Regiment a fictional regiment as part of Wellesley's Peninsula Army. Some of the men Sharpe commanded in the South Essex are:. As well as the South EssexSharpe found himself commanding another regiment. The Royal American 60th Riflesunder the command of Captain William Fredricksonoften has Sharpe's company attached for additional support. Sharpe takes part in a number of notable actions, either with the South Essex, or on detached duty for Major Michael HoganWellesley's head of intelligence. These include the capture of a at the inand storming of the breaches at Badajoz. Over this period, he rises in rank from lieutenant through captain to majoreventually taking unofficial command of the entire regiment. In parallel, Sharpe's friend and colleague, Harper, rises from rifleman to regimental sergeant major. His intelligence work for Hogan and Wellesley brings him the long-lasting enmity of the fictional French spymaster Pierre Ducoswho conspires several times to destroy Sharpe's career, reputation and life. Sharpe possibly appears in Simon Scarrow 's The Fields of Deathalthough his surname is not confirmed. A major in the 95th Rifles called Richard and who, "unusually for an officer Prior to the Battle of WaterlooSharpe is appointed aide to the Prince of Orange and is promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Disgusted by August 1812 Prince's dangerous incompetence during the course of the battle, Sharpe deserts his August 1812 after making an attempt on the prince's lifebut comes to the aid of his old regiment, the Prince of Wales Own Volunteers formerly the South Essexsteadying the line and preventing a French breakthrough. Wellesley then gives him command of the unit for August 1812 remainder of the battle Sharpe's Waterloo. In Sharpe, now retired and living as a farmer in Normandyis commissioned by the Countess of Mouromorto to find her husband, Don Blas Vivar, who has disappeared in the Spanish colony of Chile ; both she and her husband had encountered Sharpe induring the events leading up to the assault on Santiago de Compostella. En route Sharpe finally meets Napoleonin exile on St Helena. During the earliest chronological books Sharpe is a redcoated Private and later Sergeant, and so his uniform and weapons largely are in line with Army regulations. His first sword and officer's sash are taken from the dead in the wake of the battle of Assaye, although no specifics are given on the weapon. By the time of Sharpe's Prey as a junior Rifle officer, although carrying a regulation curved sabre, Sharpe has begun carrying a as well, and is noted to prefer a heavier sword like the cutlass used by the Navy. In August 1812 Rifles Sharpe acquires his signature weapon, a Heavy Cavalry Swordand clothing for the first time. Captain Murray, mortally wounded in the Corunna retreat, leaves his Heavy Cavalry sword to Sharpe who had broken his own sword in the battle. In the final battle of the novel Harper kills a French Chasseur, and Sharpe takes his overalls and boots which he wears with his Rifleman's green jacket from then on. Bernard Cornwell | Sharpe | Fandom

Major Tubbs, August 1812 his name, was a plump man with a cheerful, jowly face who now stood at the ramparts of the small fortress of San Miguel and bounced his hands on the parapet in time Sharpes Skirmish: Richard Sharpe and the Defence of the Tormes some imaginary music. Tubbs looked southwards, seeing nothing but unharvested fields, groves of olives, vineyards, white farmhouses and bright red poppies. Have you thought of that? Sharpe sighed. Sharpe ordered. Tubbs sighed, but he dared not countermand the order. He was a Commissary of the Storekeeper of the Ordnance, and though he wore a blue-coated uniform that was generously decorated with silver braid, and though he was accorded the courtesy rank of Major, he was a civilian. His job was to help keep the army supplied with muskets, powder and shot, and Lucius Tubbs had never seen a battle, while the dark- haired, much scarred man beside him had lived through too many. Lovecraft Haggard, H. Le Guin Van Vogt, A. G Westlake, Donald E. Homepage Books Cornwell, Bernard. Richard Sharpe and the defence of the Tormes, August Sharpe turned on him. Take three reliable men and break every damned bottle. Bernard Cornwell. Categories: Cornwell, Bernard. Oleg :. Leave a Comment. Type your search query and hit enter:.