Sharpe's Skirmish

Infobox Book |
name = Sharpe's Skirmish


image_caption =
author = Bernard Cornwell
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series = Richard Sharpe stories
genre = Historical short story
publisher = HarperCollins
pub_date = 1999 (Original Limited Edition Paperback)
2002 (Revised Extended Paperback edition)
english_pub_date =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 63 pp (Revised Extended Paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 978-0972222006 (Revised Extended Paperback edition)
preceded_by = Sharpe's Sword
followed_by = Sharpe's Enemy

"Sharpe's Skirmish" is a historical short story by Bernard Cornwell in his series about the adventures of Richard Sharpe.

Sharpe's Skirmish was first written in 1998 and in a great hurry.Fact|date=October 2007 A leading British bookseller devised the idea of giving away a Sharpe short story with every copy of Sharpe's Fortress, possibly why Sharpe’s Skirmish often refers to events that happened in Sharpe's Fortress.Fact|date=October 2007 Only a few thousand copies were originally published, however an edition has been republished by the Sharpe Appreciation Society.

Plot introduction

This short story occurs after Sharpe's Sword and before Sharpe’s Enemy in the summer of 1812 and Sharpe must guard a Commissary Officer posted to an obscure Spanish fort where there are some captured French muskets. Unbeknown to the British, the French are planning a lightning raid on the fort across the river Tormes, and they reckon the Spanish fort which guards an ancient bridge across the river will be lightly guarded.

Plot summary

Characters in "Sharpe's Skirmish"

*Captain Richard Sharpe – Rifle Captain in the British army, Officer Commanding the Light Company of the South Essex Battalion.
* Sergeant Patrick Harper – one of Sharpe's new group of Rifles, one of the "Chosen Men"
*Major Michael Hogan – an Engineer, and Wellesley's head of intelligence.
*Lieutenant General Wellington – commander of the British army in Spain.

Allusions to actual history, geography and current science

References are made to incidents during the Peninsular War and the Siege of Gawilghur. Lieutenant General Wellington was based on the real historical figures of the same name with limited dramatic licence taken.

Publication history

*1999, UK, Harper Collins Pub date 01 March 1999, Limited Edition Paperback
*2002, UK, [http://www.southessex.co.uk/ Sharpe Appreciation Society] ISBN 0-972222-0-6, Pub date 02 September 2002, Revised Extended Paperback Edition

ources, references, external links, quotations

* [http://bernardcornwell.net/index.cfm?page=2&BookId=37 Section from Bernard Cornwell's website on "Sharpe's Skirmish"]
* [http://www.southessex.co.uk/ Sharpe Appreciation Society]