In the book, Harper instructs a few of the Irish soldiers to stay with Lynch and make sure he doesn't survive the battle. Having him turn and flee is a nice addition.
Mmhm, bad take. He and the Countess were mismatched. Unthinkable. That was never her agenda. It's the consequences of a rigid class system that a superb woman can see a superb man go by and not be able to match on the basis of their real strength together. But Sharpe did choose wrong. He was pinned to a dangerous, manipulative (traits borne of a desperately vulnerable youth) woman by the obligation he owed her for going to bat for him at personal risk. He had no way out of the obligation or to ask if she was too hot for him to hold. He'd have been better off single or with a common law marriage to an independent fighting woman, than trying to play the rigged game of social advancement through marriage.
@@mileslong3904 yes it 100% is not only that, Jane is evil and selfish and materialistic the Countess was only avenging her husband and settling his debts/her shame . . . much better person all around
They were being faithful to the book. Sharpe could have had Girdwood thrown out of the army but kept him around because if Girdwood was gone another colonel would be transferred in to take over the regiment(Sharpe still only being a major). As you saw, Sharpe made sure Girdwood knew who was in charge of the regiment and eventually go mad.
Even down to having the correct weapons for the characters from the books and their little character traits was such a nice touch. You can tell the director and ppl involved respect Cornwell's books. Unlike the filth running shows with beloved IPs today making them their own and injecting their own ideologies into them like weird race swapping(for eg in The Winter King, another Cornwell book on the TV now where they made Merlin the old Irish druid a sub Saharan African and it just throws you off so much)or what's happened to Star Wars for the best eg. Or Disney in general. So much disrespect and spitting in our faces and then gaslighting us over it when we're rightly upset or critical. They label us heinous things for using our right as customers to complain about a shit product.
He is like d'Artagnan in that regard, he must keep allies among the High Nobility in his back, in a World very much run by the Old Regime networks and Power, however ever in need more and more, of more reliable men like him
@@paulpeterson4216 Well, she tried to be brave and help him. What would happen later, who knew? They say the actress became Bean's wife too, for a time. Who would know how that would end, too?
ONe of the greatest TV series of al time. I have dedicated the last 12 years studying Napoleonic history & uniforms, partly from watching this series as a kid. What a joy it would be to see this on a modern budget, with thousands of soldiers on screen... To do the history justice. But you'd never be able to get the perfect casting of this series. Genius, budget genius.
Correct, but I don't see this being made as well as today, to many or to much CGI used. Here you used people and location - even if the location wasn't where it was supposed to be. I still enjoyed watching this. In present day military you wouldn't see anything like this happening, mostly drones and planes would be doing the fighting and killing.
I had thought about this too, especially after the success of GoT. Watching this now, the show was almost painfully over ambitious with what it was trying to do with the budget it had and I think it suffers for it. My Dad painted collector quality Napoleonic miniatures and I have a love of history in general (medieval is my period), so I am quite aware as to how woefully inadequate the battle scenes are in showing the scope and scale. I would love to see this redone with a proper budget.
I've learned that the lower the budget, the better the programme. I, Claudius is way superior to Rome. Threads makes The Day After look like a Disney family movie. The money thrown at Star Trek the Motion Picture disguised the weakest Star Trek script in history, the weakest Cyberman Doctor Who serial was far superior.
@@themagpie_1 That's what I was talking about, today's shows on war are mostly CGI and less about on-site filming, as about today's wars, they are mostly using drones and planes not so much men as they were 100-150 years ago. Shows like Sharpe would be mostly CGI and mostly unknown actors. I prefer the original myself
I know a lot of people talk about certain things with Sharpe. Sean Bean. The show doing well on a tight budget. And, of course: Now that's soldiering. What stands out to me are certain moments. Namely, the Standard Bearers getting shot. It is not their deaths that move me. It's what happens after. Like in this clip. The British Color Bearer is shot. A member of the Rifles picks it up, and hands it to the next man. Who then immediately throws his weapon down and takes up the colors. Another episode had it, only it was a French soldier. He witnessed the man before him shot, and immediately took up the colors himself, running to the front (and most dangerous position in the unit) with a defiant cry of "Vie la France". Tell me: how is that not amazing?
That was what was expected in that era. It was critical for the linemen to know where to rally around in the confusion of the smoke and noise, when communication and visible was near impossible.
I accidentally found this series and found it well done. Would like to see something like this that focuses on the Gurkah Regiments through the years that fought as part of the Royal Army.
It’s funny that in the books Sharpe’s Baker rifles are valued more than his men, but in all the shows he carries his into battle, throws it on the floor and runs off to fight with his sword.
As an officer he shouldn't even be carrying a rifle (he does anyway) into battle, like Ross, D'Alembord and Girdwood here. Even the new flagbearer just tosses his rifle to carry the colors
as this is one of my favourite sharpe adventures i cannot possibly stop myself from visiting my favourite scenes from this exciting episode over and over again, and as this outing for sharpe is set closer to home and contains a lot of intrigue, i simply cannot enough of it, and what a hero sharpe is first of all despite horse guards no doubt fobbing him off he still tells carlin who`s charge, fends of an attack, meets his supporter the prince of wales, meets and beds a lovely posh lady, goes under cover and finds out what`s happening at foulness, and then after telling perhaps the wrong people at head quarters goes back to foulness to take command and really mess up that idiot girdwood`s day, and then take over and even gives harper a chance to have revenge on lynch, and then despite the fact that his plans are discovered and he`s in danger from it all collapsing around him, because of the beautiful lady turning up just at the right moment the day is saved, and then although he goes back to spain and has to serve under girdwood, this does not last long because as we suspected all along girdwood is insane, and he finally snaps and so who is left to lead the regiment but sharpe, what a man, what a hero, what an adventure.
@Songsmirth "Get his pack. It's what you stopped him for, isn't it?" This is explained better in the book. The French packs were better designed and more comfortable to carry for long periods than the British packs. British veterans (according to Cornwell) ditched theirs for a French one as soon as they could. JAMES
And if your bowstring gets wet, it won't work. And if your bow gets wet and isn't immediately dried out, it will warp and lose power and/or break. Early crossbows had the same problems. Later crossbows, ie. arbalests, did not. Regardless, bullets are cheaper and easier to make than bolts or arrows. A musket is no more complicated than a crossbow, can be used as a spear with a bayonet, and doesn't require the years of training that a bow does.
it's interesting how Sharpe went through all that trouble to get Wellington reenforcements and once they crossed the river half of them were dead or wounded so it seemed almost a wasted effort....
Common thing people say is why do they remain in lines/squares etc instead of running in skirmish formation to avoid being shot, well two reasons, they would still get shot at, cannon fire, and most importantly lose cohesion and be run down by cavalry, so yes there are losses, but the victor is the army who doesn't break formation.
@@WhySoSerious551 The tight formation was what caused the Last charge of the Imperial Guard to fail, the first column took over 60% casualties after they reached the ridge top at Waterloo before the second and third column fully arrived. So they didn't have enough Force enough to charge, in a sudden fog of smoke not seeing clearly to where, while the closest British units did not engage in defense to repulse them nor even stood in line formation.... (stuff not done but rarely until the XX c.) avoiding any return fire, but kept shooting volleys from the ground or on the knee. And the French on regrouping back to be joined by the column following the almost decimated first column, the idiots in the second and third column of the Imperial Guard halted and the ones below them with even less sight of what was over the ridge got confused, and looking back from a higher advantage point how extensive the Prussian encircling was becoming, realized how precarious was the situation to be surrounded and squeezed in a pincer movement and slaughtered. So rather than charge through Wellington units once on the crest, those that survived (without almost officers) looked West where the roads were still open free with the Sun going down in short. They probably thought, "coming the night a battle next day or after would be better", but their hesitation and retreat, caused Panic even further down below and a rout ensued. At that moment, seeing no charge, the first lines of British and Allies Soldiers stopped their so far efficient barrage of fire (the Bess had a superior fire range than Napoleon's rifles by then) to halt or make the Imperial Guard first regiment stagger with the now known domino effect, and were told to stand up, and prepare to charge on the Guard going down. The Imperial Guard retreated, after its spearhead first 2 columns walked over the ridge into their firing squads in a triangle of crossfire left and right 40 or 60 yards away, execution style. The casualties worse than the landing in Normandy, and that without machine guns. So they were mowed down within the 2 minutes of coming over the edge off the slope not even in full halt to return fire They never faced or crossed bayonets with the Imperial Guard, but those that were shot as they marched or ran down or were caught straggling in broken small formations. Only Napoleon's Old Guard behind him by the Center remained in formation and covered his retreat. But those Allies and British that went too forward in their zeal to chase the French risked and suffered Friendly Fire, by coming across Prussians fast sweeping Cavalry units. That it was past twilight and Dusk to see well made things worst for the next few hours of Night chaos. Wellington was right, the bloody thing was very close by a matter of minutes.
@DrMabuse2006 No, the south Essex are a normal battalion. The reason Sharpe and others are wearing Rifle green are because they were divided from the 95th in the 1st book (and episode) and attached to the South Essex.
I know these battles are meant to have well over four hundred soldiers. But I like to think that what we're seeing is the first push. And as the battle goes on more and more reinforcements from the rest of regiments come to fill in the line gaps. It makes it more believable that when you see a hundred men on screen they can represent four hundred plus
To properly learn to use and to develop the strength needed for a bow takes years, a musket, mere days. Mass conscription and mobilization only becomes possible when the weaponry and tactics can be quickly learned. That's why firearms became adopted so quickly, even though at first they were often far inferior to existing weapons.
As a modern archer - this is laughably false. You can be proficient with a bow for the battlefield in 5 months perhaps a little longer. It's approximately the same as the time to gain marksmanship with a modern assault rifle, of which I've also done several. Assuming you adopt proper technique the 'strength' requirement is relatively low.
@Angelsdownfall: because he is sean bean. sean bean dies in every single film, so Gornwell wrote Sharpe, so that Sean Bean could play him. Sharpe could beat Magneto to death with a iron pipe
klappspatenkamikaze I thought he was killed by the Uruk-hai, or was it that psychopathic bunch of Lannisters in Game of Groans? He revives wonderfully it has to be said. You can’t beat someone of that calibre, whether you’re Bonaparte or a corrupt Anglo-Irish aristocrat and it’s pointless trying. He’s the early19C equivalent of the Boy Who Lived.
I'll give this to girdwood. He might have PTSD but at least he isn't as cowardly as that Lynch fellow. Lynch turned around. Girdwood collapsed but like a true english man faced toward his enemy.
I always loved the sharp series... Sean Bean was the perfect actor to play sharp, although I thought that verne troyer would be amazing as well. The sharp series got better as bigger budgets came into play. It always seemed like they shot this series in about four days on the same 5 mile radius...Some big names though.. pete postalwaite, uncle fred from coronation street as the general...lord fenner I have seen in english television..but the rest of the actors are virtually unknown but talented
Sean Bean was perfect to play Sharpe but he wasn't first choice. He was a late replacement for Paul McGann, who broke an ankle playing football whilst waiting for filming to start.
Great series. Napoleanic Wars are interesting material. In reality, though, when they got close enough to do a bayonet charge, the other side usu. ran. Hand to hand combat in this era was rarer than we see in this series. Most wounds were by musket balls or cannon, not bayonets.
@@NamVetBuck The squirmish was over by New Orleans. The British had won this side show of the Napoleonic wars, America had been kicked out of Canada (their aim in the 'war') Britain ruled the waves and the White House was burnt to the ground after American troops had run away. But funny how the only bit of 1812 you remember is NO?
I only saw the first 5 on PBS's Masterpiece Theater in the 1990s. _Sharpe's Gold_ wasn't very good so I figured that's why they ended before that one. I think I rented a couple more after that, such as _Sharpe's Waterloo_ after reading that book, and one of the movies set in India. I got the feeling the actors playing the Chosen Men wanted another paycheck so appeared in Waterloo instead of their characters staying in the U.K., thankful to be done with war.
It's looking a little dated now. I'd love to see someone like HBO remake this. Right from the start, from when he was a thief in London to running away to Yorkshire and joining The Havercakes, serving in India and winning his commission, right through to the Battle of Waterloo.
despite me not knowing if charlie wheeler is going to be a future sergeant or psychopath, this is one hell of an exciting sharpe adventure and its a crying shame that apart from a couple of more episodes and off course a couple set in india which i didn`t really get into, they stopped the series when they did.
No. For a bow to be useful in war it needs at least 90 lbs of draw. Longbows could have up to double that. You can teach anyone to use a 30 lb bow in a day or two, and make them a decent shot in a month, but it takes *years* to build the musculature to control a bow powerful enough for war. By comparison, you can train a man to use a musket in two weeks; a rifle in a month. Guns replaced bows because potential musketeers were more numerous and hence more cost effective.
Longbows recovered from the (16th century) wreck of the Mary Rose suggested a draw of 160lb...however, bows from the Agincourt (14th century) era were reputed to require a greater draw, and available evidence suggests that bowmen from that age were actually left with deformities from regular skeletal subjection to these forces...
There's something very British about rich English folk totally abusing poor young men, yet using xenophobia are still able to convince those poor young men to kill strangers because those strangers must be the enemy because they, erm, live somewhere else
I love this episode but the end of it is the only part that looks cheesy in sharpes. Is just budget. You did all that work for about 30 men to get mowed down by Canon and then seconds later are all standing back up. Is in a regiment 1000 people?
itsaguinness a regiment generally does have 1000 men. 2 battalions (500 each) make s regiment. However the South Essex(later PWOV) had a few dozen more men as it was a mix of riflemen and light infantry
SantomPh wrong a British regiment in the napoleonic period was made up of (a few had more but the exception rather than the rule) 1 field battalion of 1000 men and officers each company being 100men on paper and a holding battalion made up of 3-4 companies to train new men or in the case of of some a full battalion sent out to swap with the 1st.
They we're usually between 600-800 depending on the situation for standard regiments of line. 10 companies makes up this battalion, which is what the fighting unit was called (regiment being purely administrative). There was no "HQ Element", comparing modern structures with the ones of the early 1800s is like comparing an assault rifle with a musket... They shoot projectiles out of a barrel, and much of the terminology is the same, but the similarities stop there.
more to the point how would 4000 men bust through that little stage..i think we should just asume all 4000 men didnt stroll into the prince rejents grounds and hide behind a little stage.
@DrMabuse2006 No, the riflemen are now part of the South Essex, but are allowed to retain their rifleman's uniform. Thus, Sharpe holds his commission with the South Essex.
If I am totally honest if I re did the entire series you would get alot more more, alot more troops and more of a charge, infantry moving that slow through water would have given the French time to reload and shoot, it be a pigeon shoot, in reality, if Wellington was going through to France and there happend to be defences, he would, strategically, make sure he had a 3-1 advantage especially on a slope, so in reality 200 men wouldnt be enough, 1000 maybe 2000 more likely
elgostine Tolkien was in the trenches in WWI, albeit briefly before being invalided out with trench fever and ‘shell shock’ (PTSD). I’ve heard about very deep relationships between officers and their batmen in action at that time, being prepared to die for someone regardless of the presence or absence of sexual tension. My grandfather was killed at the Somme. Frodo and Sam are not unlike many officer-batman relationships of the day. Sharpe and Harper are not about self-sacrifice but about mutual respect between two men who have adopted each other as brothers.
Hahahaha. Less maintenance? Crossbows have triggers and mechanisms that are used with cranks or levers to reload. Wanna know what a bow is? It's a fucking stick with a strong string attached to either end. Which is more reliable now?
El Mirador got no information that Simmerson betrayed Barclay,only that Simmerson tried to take Lass from the convent. Simmerson has powerful friends in the Army and at the royal court,which is why he evades punishment every time. Someone got sick of him and made him a general in the EIC, removing him fron Europe altogether
Yes, but basics doesn`t = effective combat. Try keeping up sustained fire as an archer without months and months or even years of doing it. It`s not easy. There`s quite a few history books on this exact subject, actually. And reloading a flintlock isn`t complicated, you can learn to do it in minutes. To be fast and steady I`d imagine would take some time, but thats the joy of repetition! And I wouldn`t want to be anywhere near a volley, ouch.
That is a myth. Colours would become soiled in battle, and often they would touch the ground. When the guards are changed at Buckingham and on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the colours for a royal salute are dipped and laid flat on the parade square, except for the jack. The national flag is the only one not dipped and the only one which is to kept off the bare ground at all times.
They didn't have the budget to show a full regiment. These films were made for television and although the acting and writing is better than most of Hollywood the money just wasn't there.
@DrMabuse2006 No. He commanded only the 1st Battalion, not the entire Regiment. He is only a Major. A colonel would command (and legally own) the South Essex Regiment, not a Major.
There are too few number of Napoleonic re-enacters with the correct uniform able to amount to such sizes. You could gather many extras but the uniforms won't look authentic. That's my view anyway, gone are the days of mass units as featured in the film Waterloo.
Heh, I expect if American style malls or the TA existed back then that Colonel would shortly have joined up and BSed the hell out of his role of that battle...
@tomwuk1 Of course we wont, no sharpe episode is complete without a moment of harper giving a grunt and then taking out a mob of displeased frenchies :D
It's not stated that they killed him because he ran away, Harper details a few Irish soldiers to stay with him and it's implied that they make sure he doesn't survive the battle.
