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Title: Sharpe's Triumph
Series:
Sharpe #2
Authors: Bernard Cornwell
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages:
279
Words: 118K
From Wikipedia.org
Sergeant
Richard Sharpe and a small detachment arrive at an isolated East
India Company fort to transport 80,000 recovered rounds of stolen
ammunition to the armory at Seringapatam. Whilst Sharpe and his men
rest, a company of East India Company sepoys arrive under the command
of Lieutenant William Dodd. Dodd abruptly has his men massacre the
unsuspecting, outnumbered garrison. Sharpe is wounded and feigns
death, allowing him to escape Dodd's determination to leave no
witnesses.
Back
in Seringapatam, Sharpe's friend, Colonel McCandless, whom Sharpe met
four years earlier during the siege of Seringapatam (Sharpe's Tiger),
questions him about Dodd. Dodd deserted the East India Company,
taking with him his sepoys, and McCandless has been tasked with
bringing him to justice, lest it give others similar ideas.
McCandless orders Sharpe to accompany him since he can identify Dodd.
Dodd
joins Colonel Anthony Pohlmann, commander of Daulat Scindia's army,
at the city of Ahmednuggur and is rewarded with a promotion to major
and command of his own battalion. Since the Mysore Campaign, the
British have been pushing further north into the Maratha
Confederacy's territory. Scinda is one of the Maratha rulers who have
decided to resist the British advance. Scinda orders Pohlmann to
assign a regiment to defend Ahmednuggur, so Pohlmann gives Dodd
command of the unit and instructions to inflict casualties on the
British, but most importantly, withdraw and keep the regiment intact.
Meanwhile,
Sergeant Obadiah Hakeswill correctly guesses that Sharpe killed the
Tippoo Sultan four years earlier at Seringapatam and looted the
corpse. Hakeswill frames him for an attack on his former company
commander, Captain Morris. Given a warrant to arrest Sharpe,
Hakeswill recruits six cutthroats to help him murder Sharpe, so they
can steal the treasure.
Sharpe
and McCandless travel to the British army, escorted by Syud Sevajee,
the Maratha leader of a band of mercenary cavalrymen working for the
East India Company. They reach the army, now under the command of
Major General Arthur Wellesley, Sharpe's former regimental commander
and the future Duke of Wellington. Upon arrival at Ahmednuggur,
Wellesley quickly launches a risky escalade without the usual
days-long artillery bombardment, in a bid to take the enemy by
surprise. He quickly captures the poorly fortified town, to the
amazement of Dodd, who has a poor opinion of Wellesley. Despite this,
Dodd manages to extract his troops from the rout and retreats to
Pohlmann's army, much to McCandless's anger. In the chaos of the
battle, Sharpe rescues Simone Joubert, the French-Mauritian wife of a
French officer in Dodd's regiment. Under the pretext of returning
Madame Joubert to her husband, McCandless hopes to be able to
reconnoitre the Maratha army. They do not leave immediately, however,
and Sharpe spends the night in Ahmednuggur with Simone.
The
next day, they reach the Maratha army. Pohlmann deduces McCandless's
real intentions, but knowing that his army vastly outnumbers the
British, allows McCandless to see everything he wants. At the same
time, Pohlmann tries to recruit Sharpe, offering to make him a
lieutenant. He tells Sharpe of the various successes that lowly
Europeans have had in India, including his own rise from East India
Company sergeant to commander of Scinda's army. That evening, Sharpe
considers defecting, but, before he can make a decision, his and
McCandless's horses are stolen, with McCandless being wounded. Sharpe
apprehends one of the thieves, who turns out to be one of Dodd's men.
Both Sharpe and Pohlmann suspect that Dodd ordered the theft, but
Pohlmann only has the thief executed. Meanwhile, Hakeswill takes his
request to arrest Sharpe to Wellesley, who informs him that Sharpe
will not return for some time. He assigns Hakeswill to the baggage
train in the meantime, infuriating the impatient sergeant.
The
Maratha army moves on, leaving McCandless behind, at his own request.
Sharpe decides to look after the wounded colonel, which he uses as a
reason to refuse Pohlmann's offer. Nevertheless, he begins to wonder
about how he might become an officer. Recognizing the ambition
Pohlmann has stoked in the sergeant, McCandless cautions Sharpe. At
the time, almost all of the officers in the British Army came from
wealthy families and paid for their commissions. Those exceptional
few who rose from the ranks were resented and had little chance of
advancement. Whilst McCandless recovers, Syud Sevajee locates them
and delivers McCandless's report to Wellesley.
When
McCandless is recovered enough, he and Sharpe rejoin the army as it
advances towards Borkardan. Using some of the Tippoo's jewels, Sharpe
buys one of Wellesley's horses for McCandless, though he pretends to
Wellesley that McCandless is the purchaser. The surprised McCandless
learns about Sharpe and the Tippoo's death. The next day, Hakeswill
attempts to arrest Sharpe, but McCandless smudges the ink on the
warrant so that it reads "Sharp", not "Sharpe",
and refuses to let him take Sharpe.
After
weeks of aimless marching, the Maratha leaders meet and finally
decide to engage the British near Assaye. Pohlmann is given overall
command. The British have two forces, one under the command of
Wellesley and the other under Colonel Stevenson. Pohlmann plans to
fight and defeat them separately, before they can join forces.
Wellesley discovers that the enemy is closer than he thought and
fully aware of the situation, but is still determined to attack.
Pohlmann
sets a trap. He deploys his army at what he is told is the only
usable ford of the River Kaitna, but Wellesley deduces that there
must be another one between two villages on opposite banks of the
river. Using the second ford, Wellesley crosses the river to try to
launch a flank attack, but Pohlmann redeploys to face him.
Wellesley's aide is killed, and Sharpe takes his place. Back with the
baggage, McCandless confronts Hakeswill about the warrant and warns
Hakeswill that he knows he lied and that he will inform his
commander. On the British left, the 78th Highland Regiment and the
sepoys advance through heavy artillery fire and rout much of the
Maratha infantry. On the right, however, the 74th and some picquets
advance too far towards the village of Assaye and are forced to form
square against attack from Maratha light cavalry. Dodd's regiment
then attacks the two pinned-down units.
Meanwhile,
some Maratha gunners retake their guns and fire them into the rear of
Wellesley's men, so Wellesley orders a cavalry charge. During the
fight, he is unhorsed alone amidst the enemy. Sharpe launches a
savage attack, saving his commander and single-handedly killing many
men. Friendly troops arrive, and a shaken Wellesley leaves. With the
collapse of the Maratha right, Dodd is forced to retreat. Hakeswill
finds McCandless alone and kills him to save himself.
As
the Maratha forces flee in disarray, Sharpe comes across Pohlmann,
but does not apprehend him. He also finds Simone Joubert. Dodd killed
her husband during the retreat, so Sharpe takes her under his
protection. Eventually, he catches up to Wellesley's staff and is
astonished when Wellesley rewards him by giving him a battlefield
promotion, making him an ensign in the 74th. Afterward, Hakeswill
tries again to arrest Sharpe, but Sharpe's new commanding officer
points out that the warrant for Sergeant Sharpe is useless against
Ensign Sharpe. Sharpe forces Hakeswill, who initially refuses to
acknowledge Sharpe's new rank, to address him as "sir".
I've been trying to think what to say about this book and author. I
enjoyed my time reading this. Cornwell can write and write well and
engagingly. The people, the situations, they're all quite fleshed
out and drew me in.
At the same time, the titular character, Richard Sharpe, is a
godless, immoral jackass with an attitude. It makes it very hard for
me to want to like him and I don't want to read about a character who
I don't like. Cornwell, who I have gathered has a thing against
Christianity, never cross the line. But he's exactly like that
annoying kid in the back seat who puts his finger ON the line and
starts denying that he's done anything wrong. The only real Christian
character is an old doddering man who is so uptight that he could run
a grandfather clock for a decade. It isn't that that isn't
inaccurate, but it is that that is the only example Cornwell chose to
use. Like I said, finger on the line.
I was introduced to Sharpe by Inquisitor Jenn. So when she read a
much later book (Sharpe's
Rifles) I asked her if Sharpe still had his attitude on.
Apparently, he still does. Which means the finger is staying on the
line and it's going to feel like Cornwell is going “neener, neener,
neener” to me while I holler at our parents “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad,
make Bernard stooooooooop” and he's screaming “But I'm not
touching him!”
With all of this, I'm going to read the next book and see if Sharpe's
attitude bugs me still. It might just be that it bothered me this
time because like Scrooge, I had a sandwich with too much mustard or
something. Or it could be that Sharpe IS a real jerk. I'll be making
up my mind next book.
★★★✬☆
