Captain Richard Sharpe

Richard Sharpe is Captain of the Light Company of the South Essex Regiment. He is a 6 foot, 33 year old Irishman whose parents never married, a fact that carries a stigma in the 1800's. He is taught to read and write as an adult by William Lawford, his Colonel, whom he likes even though Lawford is rich and privileged. Sharpe has served with him since India where as a Sergeant, Sharpe helped keep Lawford alive. Captain Sharpe has been a soldier for seventeen years, starting as a Private, then Sergeant, then finally an officer with all the promotions earned by his battlefield experience because he did not have the money to buy a promotion.

When he meets Captain Lossow in the abandoned town on the way to Celorico, Sharpe is described in more detail and the impression his clothes give is not great, as they are well-worn...