Sharpe's Eagle (novel)

Plot summary

1809: During the Talavera Campaign, Sir Arthur Wellesley's army has entered Spain to confront Marshall Victor, Richard Sharpe and his small group of thirty Riflemen are attached to the newly arrived South Essex Regiment. Commanded by the cowardly and bullying dilettante, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson, the South Essex is a raw, inexperienced unit that has been drilled mercilessly with frequent use of the lash.

More suited for ceremonial parades than genuine combat against the veteran armies of France, Sharpe takes it upon himself to shape the inexperienced and poorly-trained redcoats into full-fledged soldiers. His real problem turns out to be the officers, most of whom appear to be in the lap of Simmerson, including his nephew, the arrogant Lieutenant Christian Gibbons, and his best 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 abandoned by her husband after he fled to Brazil. Only two appear to have any real experience: Captain Lennox, a veteran of the Battle of Assaye, where Sharpe himself won his commission; and Captain Thomas Leroy, an American Loyalist who fled with his merchant family to England during the American War of Independence.

From Talavera, General Wellesley dispatches the South Essex, alongside Sharpe's Riflemen and the engineers of Major Michael Hogan, to blow up the bridge at Valdelacasa, so as to protect the army's flank as they march. Assisted by 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 cross the bridge to engage four squadrons of French dragoons. A combination of arrogance, poor training, flawed leadership and elementary tactical errors results in the two regiments being routed by the French, with hundreds of men killed and wounded, Lennox brought down by the enemy, and the loss of the King's Colour. 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 their own standard.

Distinguishing himself during the skirmish after rallying several broken companies of the South Essex against the French and capturing one of their cannon, Sharpe finds himself gazetted Captain. However, he still must do much to confirm this rank in the company of an officer corps still largely drawn from the aristocracy and the ranks of English gentlemen who look down on Sharpe's low birth. Even worse, Sir Henry has made Sharpe the scapegoat of his follies, and intends on ruining Sharpe's career via his political connections at Horse Guards. Only by capturing an Eagle can Sharpe stay in the army, let alone keep his promotion. The Rifleman also makes an enemy of Gibbons and Berry when he takes Josefina under his protection, and the two begin a relationship. Later in the novel, when Josefina is raped by Gibbons and Berry, Sharpe swears vengeance, murdering Berry in a nighttime 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 from the line of battle. Sharpe keeps his riflemen in position, while he must decide whether to fulfill Lennox's request or avoid this insane, suicidal challenge.

Sharpe's old friend, William Lawford, relieves Simmerson of command and takes the South Essex back into position, where their precise volleys destroy the column's cohesion. In true heroic form, Sharpe Leads the Light Company and his Rifles into the fray and captures the 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 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 General Cuesta has failed to shield the British from Marshall Soult's advancing reinforcements, and the British are obliged to retreat back to Portugal. However, 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."

Characters

Title

The eagle of the title refers to the French Imperial Eagle presented to each regiment by the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte himself and carried at its head into battle. The soldiers of the French Imperial Army pledged to defend the eagle to the death, and to lose it would bring shame to the regiment. In the novel Sharpe vows to capture one to restore the honour of his disgraced regiment and to secure his promotion. The novel ends with Wellesley's toast to "Sharpe's Eagle," thus beginning the convention, used by Cornwell in nearly all the Sharpe novels, of ending the novel with the use of its title.

Adaptations

A 1993 TV adaptation of the same name was produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network in the UK starring Sean Bean as Sharpe, Daragh O'Malley as Harper, Assumpta Serna as Teresa Moreno, Brian Cox as Major Hogan, David Troughton as Wellesley, Daniel Craig as Lieutenant Berry, Gavan O'Herlihy as Captain Leroy and Michael Cochrane as Simmerson. There are many differences between the plot of the television adaptation and the novel. Captain Lennox from the novel becomes a Major in the TV adaptation.

Publication history

This is Bernard Cornwell's first novel. Cornwell’s plan was "to write a series of tales about the adventures of a British rifleman in the Napoleonic Wars". He had wanted to start with the Siege of Badajoz but on reflection, he felt that this was too ambitious for his first novel. He decided to start with a couple of easier books as a warm-up. Cornwell wanted to find a task just as impossible as the taking of Badajoz for Sharpe's first adventure. The capture of a Regimental Eagle from a French Regiment provided the challenge the author felt necessary to establish the reputations of both Sharpe and his close friend, Sergeant Patrick Harper.