Sharpe’s Regiment, late 1813, concentrates on the British Army’s preparations for the
invasion of France from the new Pasajes, Spain, supply base. Marechal de France Soult unexpectedly attacked Lord Wellington’s massed forces. Armies countermarched and fought in the mists of the Pyrenees. The battle of Nivelle, November, 1813 is the historical setting for the novel.
The battles Major Sharpe fought with the British establishment highlights the jealousy between the War Office and the Horse Guards and other bureaucracies, a system open to the
abuse of the Duke of York’s mistress selling promotions to officers. The Duke was an able administrator, however, he was an indecisive field commander, ‘The Grand old Duke of York, who had ten thousand men!’ mocked him.
The recruiting system was open to abuse. Crimping was quite legal, recruiters were
offered payments per recruit, much applied in Ireland where poverty drove many into the
ranks of the British Army. The Irish were never used in independent formations. Senior ranks were offered to those who brought in sufficient recruits with attendant poor leadership qualities.
The Prince Regent eldest son of King George III, who lost his sanity, enjoyed re-enacting victory parades in London’s Hyde Park and watching theatrical re-enactments of Lord Wellington’s victories. The public appreciated the British Army’s efforts in Spain.
Britain was a green and pleasant country hardly touched by the ravages of war. In France, Napoleon proposed that
sugar beet would meet the French populations’ craving for sugar. The British Naval blockade of France limited imports from the Carribean.
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