Sharpe and his crew prepare as the French begin their attack. __ In the Peninsular War, a British sergeant is field promoted to a lieutenant in charge of a disrespectful rifle company.
I love how Calvet is constantly shown to be an honorable and good man. Making most of the villains British while showing the humanity of the enemy. That’s storytelling.
"I eat soup with every meal because I remember when I had no soup." One of my favorite lines from the whole series. Really added so much to his humanity and character in just one line.
It's great how Calvet consistently refers to his soldiers as his children. Then sets the example for them by stepping out at the front. One could argue that that's soldiering.
I think its a holdover from the book. In it, the Commandant requests to lead the first wave to make up for his dishonour. With him just going away after the capture, Calvet was reworked to do it
Trek001 the Fort Commandant was a good man. Not cut out for Napoleon’s Army. He cared too much for his men. If he had been deployed to a field army, the heavy losses in his ranks would break him.
He was in Russian campaign! He knows that rank and privilege means very little in the jaws of death and therefore he is totally selfless in his out look to life. He probably believes he should have die already and the rest of his life is a gift.
Calvet: doesn't even bother with a horse or pistol but instead leads from the very front on foot, marching at the same tempo as the men he commands, and also presenting an extremely inviting target in his General's Uniform but going ahead anyway. Now that's soldiering.
You really don't want to shoot the man who can order a retreat if you in a life or death situation where retreat of the enemy is prefered, and all the 95th... being experianced, know that, so he imo is quite safe
Technically he was a spy... So no rules... But even if there were; people who have not surrendered are... Still combatants and legitimate military targets.
Using your enemy as a target to see which of your sharpshooters is better? You know what that is! But doing it with his sister watching? That’s just thoughtless.
Love the camaraderie between Hagman and Robinson. Being young and talented doesn't make Robinson the best, but being old and experienced doesn't make Hagman better than he.
Napoleon's Army promoted men as much for their courage as their skill. Many of his Marshals came from the ranks. Marshal Oudinot was wounded at least a dozen times. Now that's soldiering.
Grinding up the powder by hand without sieving it means the fineness will vary from batch to batch, leading to inconsistency with each new load. No good increasing the shooting distance if you don't know if the next shot is slightly more or less hot than the last one.
@@JosephGibson They had help, but it was the French who largely won WW1. Yes they crumbled in WWII, but that is largely it. It is tough for an American to blame them for getting their asses kicked by the Vietnamese.
You obviously weren’t around Oman the past two years. French and American troops at a joint FOB mowed about a thousand ISIS troops that charged their position. My policy is to not diss soldiers if I’m in range. Also dude most of us here are history nerds and love proving it against statements like that. Achievement Earned: *Easy Target*
Firstly a good spot on the Count from Alex K! This clip shows the French line infantry uniforms quite well and quite accurately I feel. The guys with green/ yellow shoulder-boards are 'voltigeurs' or line skirmishers, one of the battalions elite companies. The guys in column without shoulder-boards are 'fusiliers' (regular infantry). Finally Gaston with his red shako trim and shoulder-boards represents the 'Grenadiers', the other elite company.
@@SantomPh No I still don't buy it your brother leaves to secretly support your cause for 15 years and when you find out he isn't so bad you still side with his MURDERER?
@@Korschtal How is that a good point? He's not going to keep the details of the Fort to himself until the minute they start the siege. If he knew details about the fort, he'd tell the general long before they're literally outside the Fort.
@@GivemetheGravy Fair enough too. I was thinking in the context of the story. Of course it was equally possible that Sharpe wanted him dead because he was a murderous spy.
Technically they had reached their forces, which means they don't have to lower the flag for it to be over. Though that's still pretty weak. However, since he was a spy, there really wasn't any objecting to it under even the best of circumstances. Spy's violate the rules of war willingly, so most accept and often agree there's no point in extending them such protections.
Bayonets make it harder to aim (because of the increased weight at the end of the barrel) so commanders would only affix bayonets after firing, when they knew they were very soon going to be in a melee situation
Amazing thing is with this episode is that they shot the girls' brother but could have easily & more successfully shot Duco & shortened the war. Just common sense I would have thought!
@@SantomPh You miss the point entirely. Duco is a central villain in the series & the bane of Sharpes life. Apart from the fact he is associated with Napoleon, he portrays the criminal element that needs to be eradicated. BTW pal, this is only a fictional representation of the Peninsula War, so doesn't bear too much resemblance to reality!
AS the guys have said the 'bags' are shako covers. Generally waxed or oilskin material mad in white., black or beige colour (other colours too) they protected the shako and its plate from the elements - being made of felt etc it tended to be vulnerable to rain/ snow etc.
They foreshadowed "up to 400 yards" but we never really get a view over the sights of either rifle, so call it what you will. Certainly more than 200, they would not have drawn up that close to the enemy. So I would say at least 300 yards but less than 400.
General gave the order to advance for his "children", parley is over at that point. That and he was a spy, which is not covered under the truce flag in that time period.
