Sharpe’s Rifles: The French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809. Bernard Cornwell
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SHARPE’S
RIFLES
Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion
of Galicia, January 1809
BERNARD CORNWELL
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.
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by Collins 1988
Previously published in paperback by Fontana 1989
Copyright © Rifleman Productions Ltd 1988
Map © John Gilkes 2011
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
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Source ISBN: 9780006176978
Ebook Edition © JULY 2009 ISBN: 9780007338733
Version: 2017-05-06
Sharpe’s Rifles is for Carolyn Ryan
‘Sharpe is the epitome of a nineteenth-century, romantic working-class hero. Cool, flash and fragrant … Escape and enjoy’
Daily Express
Table of Contents
The SHARPE Series (in chronological order)
The SHARPE Series (in order of publication)
PROLOGUE
The prize was a strongbox.
A Spanish Major was struggling to save the box, while a chasseur Colonel of Napoleon’s Imperial Guard had been ordered to capture it. The Frenchman had been unleashed to the task; told that he could destroy or kill whatever or whoever tried to obstruct him.
The strongbox itself was a chest made of a wood so old that it appeared as black and shiny as coal. The wood was bound with two iron bands that, though pitted with ancient rust, were still strong. The old chest was two feet long, eighteen inches wide, and as many inches high. It was locked with two hasps that were fastened with brass padlocks. The joint