Sharpe's Gold

Ninth in the Richard Sharpe military fiction series. This one finds Richard a Captain during the Peninsular War in August 1810. My Take Just a bit of theft required to acquire the gold Wellesley needs to continue the war. London believes all is lost and is dithering about sending any money while still expecting Wellesley to pay the Spanish, the Portuguese, and take care of his own men. I can't blame Wellesley for taking the gold especially since the Spanish were such tightwads and never honored their promises to feed the British Army leaving them to starve. That was just the icing on the cake for me after their lousy performance in battle, heck, before battle as well. Cornwell works his visceral magic again making me smell the stink of the manure and blood, feel the horror of the massacred children, choke on the dust from the explosion, and moan about the blisters. It's an odd way of expressing it, but Cornwell brings the battlefield to life. I want to be out there with a Baker rifle...but with a bottle of Perrier, please! Can you imagine how excited Sharpe and his men would be if they could get their hands on the automatic weapons of today? It's our first introduction to the bladder telegraph. Too bad they didn't have more backups who could read/send the messages on them! My only complaint about this story is that it was too short. The Story Sharpe and his 31 men are bored with patrolling the border between Spain and Portugal and have finally received orders to march. It's lucky that Wellesley needs Sharpe for a special mission behind enemy lines after Sharpe, ahem, offends a provost intent on stringing up one of Sharpe's men after his encounter with a wild chicken. So off march Sharpe and his Rifles to Almeida to pick up Major Kearsey, the only man who knows where to find the gold intended for the Spanish government in Cadiz and knows the man who holds it, Cesar Moreno. The gold that Wellesley intends to appropriate. There's just one problem. While Moreno holds the gold, his guerilla band has been joined by a larger one led by El Católico who is betrothed to Cesar's daughter. A dangerous man who does not want the British Army to touch the gold. For some reason, he suspects the British intend to steal it. Part of Kearsey's precautions included leaving one of his men with Moreno, a Captain Claud Hardy. Josefina's Hardy (seeSharpe's Eagle (Richard Sharpe's Adventure Series #8)). Naturally, nothing can be that easy. The French have captured the Morenos and put the village to the sword and no one can find Hardy. Then the Major is captured and it's Sharpe to the rescue. A very handy rescue as they save Teresa from an ugly fate and later provides Sharpe with some interesting exchanges including Teresa stripping off to distract the French. But there is no gold. Even El Católico insists that the French got the gold. An insistence that Sharpe finds very suspect. And Sharpe knows how badly Wellesley needs that gold. Sharpe is so skeptical that he practically steals it from under El Católico's nose taking Teresa along as a very willing hostage. Then the chase is on for El Católico will not give up that promise of power nor the woman. A back and forth of gain and loss until there are the ultimate losses. The Characters Captain Richard Sharpe is now in charge of the Light Company of the South Essex regiment. His men include Lieutenant Robert Knowles; Sergeant Patrick Harper; Private Batten who moans about everything--cracks me up that Batten whines about the provost walking off with his chicken when Sharpe has just saved his bacon for having stolen it!; Daniel Hagman, a former poacher with the best eye; Parry Jenkins, a Welshman and the best fisherman amongst them; the educated Isaiah Tongue; Corporal James Kelly who recently married a woman two stones heavier than him and hasn't stopped smiling since; Sergeant Read, a Methodist concerned for the souls of the men; Private Roach who sells his wife's services a penny a time; and

Another excellent Richard Sharpe adventure! 👍

Q28