Sharpe's Havoc
Sharpe's Eagle (chronological) (publication) Sharpe's Escape |
Sharpe's Havoc: Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Oporto is the seventh
The story is set largely in Portugal during General Arthur Wellesley's Oporto Campaign in 1809, part of the Napoleonic Wars.
Plot summary
During a general British and Portuguese retreat from the French after the
Sharpe and his detachment, orphaned from the
Christopher was sent by the British
Seen openly collaborating with the French, he assures Sharpe that he is simply on a secret mission for Britain. Sharpe is suspicious of his motives, but Christopher shows him his orders from General Cradock, the commander of the British forces in southern Portugal. Christopher orders Sharpe to wait for him, for perhaps a week, and entrusts Kate to him. Christopher then negotiates with the French, offering the identities of the mutineers and other information in return for a monopoly on the port trade in Oporto. Christopher's Portuguese servant deserts him and tells Sharpe that Christopher has betrayed Sharpe to the French as a token of good faith. Fortunately, Sharpe defeats the French detachment sent to kill him and his men. The riflemen escape and seek to rejoin the main British force.
Sharpe spots three barges and a small boat overlooked by the French, who have burned all the boats they can find. He makes contact with a senior British officer. General Wellesley, Cradock's replacement, has been seeking a way across the Douro River. The British are delighted to be able to send a division and artillery across to occupy a seminary dominating Soult's lines of communications. The French make desperate, but futile attempts to seize it. The British position is far too strong, and the French are slaughtered.
In the aftermath of the British victory and the French retreat, Sharpe informs Wellesley and Foreign Office dignitary Lord Pumphrey of Christopher's treason. He is ordered to dispose of Christopher before he can divulge more secrets.
Portuguese forces cut off one retreat route, forcing the French to abandon their heavy equipment and plunder as they flee along a mountain road. Sharpe, Vicente, and their men race ahead of the French, seeking Christopher. The French manage to capture both bottleneck bridges from Portuguese irregulars and escape, but Sharpe finds and kills Christopher (and one of his riflemen who deserted) and rescues Kate.
Characters in Sharpe's Havoc
- 95th Rifles.
- Patrick Harper– Sergeant in the Rifles, Sharpe's right-hand man.
- Lieutenant Colonel Christopher – Turncoat Foreign Office spywho wants to sell military secrets in return for favours from the conquering French.
- Sir Arthur Wellesley.
- Jorge Vicente– Portuguese officer.
- Major Dulong – courageous French opponent of Sharpe.
- Lord Pumphrey – an agent of the British Foreign Office.
- Kate Savage – Portuguese raised daughter of an English port maker.
Historical figures
- Jean-de-Dieu Soult: Marshal of France
- Sir Arthur Wellesley: head of British forces in the peninsular
- Sir Edward Paget: Commanding General during the Second Battle of Porto. Loses his right arm during battle.
- Major General Rowland "Daddy" Hill: Brigade commander during the Battle. Would later appear in Sharpe's Eagle.
Allusions to other Sharpe novels
- Turncoat British officers are recurring antagonists in several of Cornwell's later-published Sharpe novels, especially those taking place during the early phase of the Peninsular War (notably Sharpe's Trafalgar and Sharpe's Prey). In addition to a general opportunism - seeking personal gain amid the chaos of war - what each of these characters have in common is the conviction that the French under Napoleon will be the inevitable victors in the war and the smartest thing to do is side with them in any way possible. Such belief was apparently widespread during the early years of the war, given the French's series of victorious battles against the Austrians and Russians, and the small size of the British expeditionary force in comparison to the French armies it confronted.
- Lord Pumphrey re-appears after his introduction in Sharpe's Prey. His internal thoughts confirm that he ordered the murders of Sharpe's love interest from that novel, Astrid, and her father, which Sharpe himself will not discover until the events of Sharpe's Furywhich takes place two years later.
- In the subsequent novel, Sharpe's Escape, Kate has married Jorge and given birth to their daughter.
- Cornwell lampoons Marshal Soult by showing him arguing with his cook about the menu for that evening's dinner, while the British are crossing the river. The cook is named as Sergeant Deron, who later becomes "Marshal Pot-au-feu," the commander of an army of deserters and a leading antagonist of Sharpe's Enemy.
Historical references
- In his historical note, Cornwell said that he based the character of Major Dulong on the real-life Dulong, who is mentioned only briefly in the histories as a valorous French officer who almost single-handedly saved Soult's army during the retreat by leading an attack on the Portuguese roadblock. Cornwell calls Dulong "a rather Sharpe-like figure," and even bases his appearance on that of Sharpe, as described in the earlier novels.
- Christopher emulates Andre Massena, in having Kate dress in a man's Hussaruniform that shows off her figure.
Publication history
It is the twentieth full-length novel in the series in order of publication, and takes place between the events of
- ISBN 0-00-712010-9.