Major Richard Sharpe

Richard Sharpe is the principle protagonist of the novel and is present in most—but not all—the scenes in the narrative. Sharpe is described as a large man, six feet tall, with dark hair and a face slightly disfigured by scarring. A combat veteran of numerous campaigns, Sharpe is in excellent physical condition, possesses superior tactical and strategic reasoning, and rarely makes substantial battlefield mistakes. Outside the sphere of infantry warfare, Sharpe is fairly normal in most respects and during most of his attempts at politics in the current novel, Sharpe is fairly inept. Sharpe is not much given to introspection and instead focuses on what can be done. Throughout the military phases of the novel, found in the prologue and epilogue, Sharpe demonstrates flawless command instincts, decisive leadership, and a solid grasp of the tactical situation. Possessed of an exceptional intuition regarding...