Sharpe’s Company: The Siege of Badajoz, January to April 1812

Sharpe’s Company: The Siege of Badajoz, January to April 1812
Bernard Cornwell

Captain Richard Sharpe has to lead the attack on the terrible fortress.It is a hard winter. For Richard Sharpe it is the worst he can remember. He has lost command to a man who could buy the promotion Sharpe covets. His oldest enemy, the ruthless and indestructible Hakeswill, joins the regiment and he is a man with a mission to ruin Sharpe.But Sharpe is determined to change his luck. The only way – a desperate choice – is to volunteer the Forlorn Hope, to lead the attack on the impregnable fortress town of Badajoz, a road to almost certain death or, just possibly, to heroic glory.Soldier, hero, rogue – Sharpe is the man you always want on your side. Born in poverty, he joined the army to escape jail and climbed the ranks by sheer brutal courage. He knows no other family than the regiment of the 95th Rifles whose green jacket he proudly wears.

SHARPE’S

COMPANY

Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Badajoz,

January to April 1812

BERNARD CORNWELL

Copyright

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Collins 1982

Previously published in paperback by Fontana 1983

Reprinted eleven times

Copyright © Rifleman Productions Ltd 1982

Bernard Cornwell asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is a work of fiction.

The incidents and some of the characters portrayed in it, while based on real historical events and figures, are the work of the author’s imagination.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Source ISBN: 9780007276233

Ebook Edition © March 2012 ISBN: 9780007334551

Version: 2018-12-05

Sharpe’s Company is for the Harper family, Charlie and Marie, Patrick, Donna and Terry, with affection and gratitude

‘Brilliant! Sharpe is a great creation’

Daily Mirror

‘Now thou art come unto a feast of death’

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

HENRY VI, PART I, ACT 4, SCENE 5.

Table of Contents

Title Page (#u93454e88-6e0d-5d87-b792-645618d2d898)

Copyright (#uceb1343d-52ea-5bd3-8c52-b3555f658b16)

Dedication (#u57a03c9b-b1d3-5f58-bcd7-5271f4da38fa)

Epigraph (#u28740fcb-6093-5e34-ba00-b9ab4009b9c1)

Map (#u2be1faa4-d4a9-5f7c-836c-004e8969023b)

Part One: January 1812 (#u648c3c25-d1d3-5e56-904d-d5a2a062e571)

Chapter One (#uf78258e5-62a7-59b2-bb71-5a5ace1c5f5f)

Chapter Two (#u7a036902-cefc-5692-a1e3-110cd362cdb3)

Chapter Three (#u6efb6ac3-3f2b-5892-b8e6-1d012ead85a5)

Chapter Four (#ucf89fbd3-d428-5a65-a871-846a0ce2d8fa)

Chapter Five (#ue42351d7-a6e0-58c1-8963-0335b8f55bea)

Chapter Six (#u87c603f2-423d-5902-aef4-f6b9321dbe33)

Chapter Seven (#ufc259dd1-d0d5-5403-98f5-0f87df63fc64)

Part Two: February–March 1812 (#u5dab2f82-6180-5e27-a398-bf7aa43f6d89)

Chapter Eight (#u23c56f7e-87b0-54b9-b0bb-38786e03c99c)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Part Three: St Patrick’s Day, March 17th to Easter Sunday, March 29th 1812 (#litres_trial_promo)