Sharpe's Battle

Richard Sharpe at the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, 1811

***

Ah, Sharpe, my good man. This was a riveting read. Perhaps the most hard-fought battle described to date. Wellington et al cut off from retreat, facing a vastly outnumbering enemy, must either win or die. Our British heroes defeat Marshal Massena, a personal friend of Napoleon promoted from the rank of private. A gutter fighter like Sharpe, in some ways.

The fight includes a masterful display of combined arms: galloping guns covering massed infantry, supported by cavalry, and rifleman skirmishers; crossing 3 miles of open plains while continuously harried by hordes of enemy horsemen. The infantry marches, stops to form defensive squares, repels the enemy cavalry, then reforms to march again. Avoiding great blocks of French infantry in hot pursuit as well. A calm fighting retreat displaying all the training and professionalism the British army had going for it.

Of course Sharpe makes a special enemy and needs to personally kill him. He also makes a female frenemy. You know. As Sharpe does.

I am very interested in the 88th Connaught Rangers and the 74th Scottish infantry, as well as other hard charging Highlanders and Warwickshire tough guys. It is so interesting how some of the regiments had such fierce and well-deserved reputations. Not every redcoat is made the same, to be sure.

The Reverse of the Medal

Aubrey and Maturin and intrigue ashore in England, c. 1812

***

Oooohhhh, this is getting juicy! These books are basically one continuous story, now. They begin immediately after the conclusion of the last one and leave us on a cliff-hanger, right in the middle of a major development!

How exciting! Our dear Dr. Maturin has finally learned the identity of the highly placed traitor inside the British Intelligence services. He is about to act, with no time to spare...Tune in next time, readers! Same Bat time, same Bat channel!

Good Captain Aubrey is enmeshed in a scandalous situation calculated precisely to besmirch his reputation. It works. He is apparently drummed out of the service! (For now?)

A thoroughly satisfying read, again quite varied in its scope and thrust. Late in the book we see the good Doctor set himself up as a privateer (or corsair, or private man-of-war operator; with letters of marque and reprisal and everything!). All he needs now is a captain. 

Anyone have a good man for the job? Must be truly excellent seaman, recently pitched out of the Royal Navy, down on his luck, ready for a change...

SIDENOTE: (from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary):

Definition of reverse of the medal

: an opposite and usually less favorable aspect of an affair or question

Sharpe's Fury

Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Barrosa, 1811

***

Sharpe is back doing what he loves- getting revenge, lovin' the ladies, and killin' the French. This time he participates (eventually) in the Battle of Barrosa, an action wherein the Spanish sit out while the outnumbered British and Portuguese forces kick some in heroic fashion.

Before Sharpe can take his place in the line of battle, he must take care of some other business, on the side. Sharpe is your man if you need something shady done, off the record. Involve a lady of questionable morality and he's there.

An enjoyable read, filled, as always, with high adventure and desperate bloody conflict. Cannon, musket volley, then fix bayonet and finish the job. I am left wondering who would ever wish to march at the head of a French column approaching the red coat lines. Bad idea.

The Far Side of the World

Aubrey and Maturin take a turn in the Pacific, c. 1812

***

Once again Patrick O'Brian has found an ingenious way to at once pack a story with old familiar bits of life at sea and new situations and circumstances to keep the whole refreshed. In previous books it was playing with new locales (as is the case here) and new opponents (same). Keeping the series fresh and new has required detailing many of the myriad nautical struggles and realities of life asea, including disease, lack of wind, too much wind (indeed up to hurricane-force gales!), rough seas, fires aboard ship, being taken prisoner, and falling overboard. All of this makes for a very entertaining (and delightfully unpredictable) series of novels.

In this installment, we see Jack and Stephen ordered to pursue an American frigate as it attempts to disrupt the British whaling trade of the south Pacific. A long and difficult chase, to be sure, filled with desperate situations. The end of this determined pursuit is not exactly as you might expect, roaring broadsides and bloody boarding actions.

Along the way we get to see the best side of Captain Aubrey, his unfailing persistence and inventiveness. It has, thus far, kept him and his men alive as all manner of calamity arrive.

Sharpe's Escape

Richard Sharpe and the Peninsular War, 1810

***

This book focuses on the Battle of Bussaco, September 1810, a part of the Peninsular War, wherein the invading French are trying to complete their takeover of the Iberian Peninsula by conquering Portugal. The British have built some amazing defensive works and are conducting a "scorched earth" type fighting retreat, leaving no food or supplies for the French as they cede ground.

Wellesley has constructed, in secret, the Lines of Torres Vedras, a monumental series of interconnected earthen works and forts. His plan is to simply retreat to these fortifications and let the French starve.

In this book (as per usual), our hero Richard Sharpe is toyed with by the powers that be in the army. He gets into tough spots and dire situations, finds romance and kicks some butt along the way. A nice formula for an adventure book, to be sure.

One of Sharpe's specialties seems to be running afoul of traitors, then dealing (permanently) with said traitors. This tale is no exception.

The way this book ends, I assume our next joint exercise with Captain Sharpe will still take place in Portugal. We shall see.

Treason's Harbour

Our heroes sail the Red Sea, visit Egypt, deal with Intrigue, c. 1812

***

Quite a wide-ranging tale we have ourselves, here. Many comic interludes, which I appreciate. This book had much in the way of land-based spy intrigue; the crew finds themselves in Malta's capital city, Valletta, as the HMS Surprise is repaired. While ashore, Maturin and Aubrey are enmeshed in the intelligence affairs of one French operative, named André Lesueur.

Lesueur has gained the cooperation of a local woman, one Mrs. Laura Fielding, whose husband, a Royal Navy officer, has been imprisoned by the French. In exchange for letters from him, Laura is forced to report on the goings on about Malta.

A traitor is also afoot, in the form of Andrew Wray, the Acting Second Secretary of the Admiralty, who has been dispatched to Malta nominally to investigate dockyard corruption. He is son-in-law to Admiral Harte, whom we've met and loathed before. Wray has a bad gambling problem (and might have a weakness for young boys, too), so he has turned to the French as a source of money.

Maturin purchases a crazy invention, a diving bell developed by none other than Sir Edmond Halley, late Astronomer Royal. The contraption is used to some degree of success in exploring the natural wonders (and nautical loot) potentially found on the ocean floor.

The adventure includes some land-based action traveling across the Saharan desert, riding camels. 

The book ends in a cliff-hanger, just after a vessel sailing with the HMS Surprise is caught in a fight and has its magazine explode, killing all aboard instantly. Admiral Harte was aboard. Maturin has not smoked out the traitorous Wray just yet, but no doubt he will catch the bad guy in the next installment.

Sharpe's Gold

Richard Sharpe and the battle of Almeida, August 1810

***

One year after the events of Sharpe's Eagle, Captain Richard Sharpe and the British army in the Iberian Peninsula under Lord Wellesley are outnumbered by the French and out of money and supplies. A desperate gambit is undertaken by the good Lord General: some brave person must go behind the French lines to secure a treasure trove of Spanish gold. Why? It's secret.

Of course our favorite tough guy, Sharpe, gets the impossible assignment. As usual, along the way there is intrigue, fighting, romance, and betrayal. Not necessarily in that order. Spanish Partisans are not terribly keen on the idea of the British taking the treasure for their own use (even if it means the British efforts against the invading French will continue). Of course the numerous French, including new armies sent into Spain just recently to force the British into the sea once and for all, aren't interested in British success of any kind.

Sharpe and Harper, et al put their backs into it and, despite some very close calls, manage to emerge victorious. The gold is put to use building Wellesley's secret superweapon earthworks, the Lines of Torres Vedras. These amazing defensive structures were built to protect an possibly retreating British force by slowing the French advance toward Lisbon.

From Wikipedia:

After his troubling Spanish experience at the Battle of Talavera, Wellington realised that, being outnumbered by the French forces, he might need to retreat to Portugal and possibly evacuate the peninsula, so decided to strengthen the proposed evacuation area around the fort at Oeiras e São Julião da Barra Portugal. He used a report of Colonel Vincent, ordered by Junot in 1807, describing the excellent defensive capacities in the region nearby Lisbon. 

The Ionian Mission

Aubrey & Maturin amid the Greek islands and Turkish politics, c. 1812

***

Captian Aubrey starts out this tale in command of a large, but old and decrepit, ship-of-the-line: the Worcester. He is ordered to join the long-term blockade of the French at Toulon. Some of the vessels on this station have been tacking back and forth for years at this point! Ouch. The Admiral in charge is praying for the French squadron to come to sea, so he can force a decisive action.

Late in the tale, the name-sake mission appears. Thankfully a rough time at sea has made the leaky Worcester basically unusable, so Jack and a hand-picked crew are transferred to an old friend: the HMS Surprise! 

Many, including Jack, love this vessel. Here is a website dedicated to the ship (some nice deck plans and wonderful paintings):

http://www.thedearsurprise.com/gallery/the-dear-surprise-and-other-commands/hms-surprise/

Amid the Greek isles Jack, Stephen, and a Turkish expert named Professor Graham work to decide which of three unruly Turkish subjects they should back in order to evict the French from the region. As one might expect, battle ensures.

One thing I am struck by is O'Brian's ability to continuously explore some new facet of naval life in order to keep this series fresh: be it new vessels with interesting characteristics, interactions of various stripes among the crew (like performing Handel's Messiah or putting on Hamlet), or sailing to (and describing wonderfully) new locales.

Top notch!

Sharpe's Eagle

Richard Sharpe at the Battle of Talavera, July 1809

***

Just finished a rather short and quickly read entry into the Sharpe series. This was the second book written in the wonderful series (Sharpe's Rifles was first), but occurs as the eighth book in chronological order.

Herein our hero is promoted to Captain, and fights alongside his friends in high places: including General Arthur Wellesley. The small British army is tangling with a numerically superior French collection of armies in Spain. The Spanish are nominally allies of the English, but are never dependable or reliable. After defeating three combined armies of Frenchmen at Talavera, Wellesley is forced to withdraw due to a complete lack of supplies. His victorious army counted on the Spanish for food, and they never came through. So the Peninsula War continues; Gen Wellesley vowed that when he next returns, the supply lines will not require Spanish assistance.

As usual, a wonderful book, filled with great action, some romance, a bit of intrigue and revenge. Sharpe again has to deal with an incompetent blowhard as a superior officer, but he is thankfully saved from the situation by the end of the book.

The Surgeon's Mate

Our heroes triumphantly return from the New World, then get lost in the Baltic, 1812.

***

We start out in Halifax, then cross the Atlantic, avoiding privateers who wish Jack and Stephen harm. Adventure sailing the Baltic! Spying! Intrigue! All with a Catalan flair! What's not to like about smashing the ship against a rock and languishing in a Parisian prison?

After more intrigue and a episode of true love from that Diana Villiers, we are escaped back to England.