"Sharpe's Christmas" is a short story by

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

author

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his long-running series of novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also writ ...

. It features Cornwell's fictional hero Richard Sharpe. It was originally written for the British newspaper ''The

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', which serialised it during the 1994 Christmas season. An extended version was published by The Sharpe Appreciation Society in a short story collection of the same name in 2003 to raise funds for The Bernard and Judy Cornwell Foundation.

Plot summary

"Sharpe's Christmas" is set in 1813, towards the end of the Peninsular War, and falls after '' Sharpe's Regiment''. Major Richard Sharpe and the Prince of Wales Own Volunteers have to stop the French garrison of the fortress of Ochagavia from escaping back to France. The garrison consists of three hundred soldiers, plus their women and children and another thousand men from the 75th Line Infantry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Caillou. The garrison is commanded by Colonel Gudin, an old friend of Sharpe's from his days in India. To ensure the garrison's swift escape, Brigadier General Picard is sent with his brigade to the village of Irati in the Pyrenees, along Gudin's escape route. Sharpe fends off Picard's brigade, but allows Colonel Gudin, the women and children and the 75th's

Imperial Eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

to escape.

References

External links

Section from Bernard Cornwell's website on "Sharpe's Christmas"
1994 short stories

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

Historical short stories War short stories Short stories by Bernard Cornwell Christmas short stories Works originally published in the Daily Mail Short stories set in the 1810s {{1990s-story-stub