Sharpe's Havoc
Bernard Cornwell
 Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, leading his men of the 95th Rifles in retreat from the French victory at Oporto, are unexpectedly saved by a small detachment of Portuguese soldiers led by Lt. Jorge Vincente, a law student who joined his country's army out of patriotism. Despite his bitter hatred of lawyers, Sharpe gradually comes to respect Jorge's bravery in combat. While the British Army is in retreat, Sharpe and his men are ordered to help retrieve a young Englishwoman, Kate Savage, the daughter of a prominent port merchant, recently deceased. For unknown reasons, she decided not to flee the city with her mother. In going to retrieve Kate, Sharpe and his men are caught up in the scheming of "Colonel" Christopher, a turncoat spy for the British Foreign Office. Initially sent to Portugal to investigate the possibility that Marshall Soult might decide to declare himself King of Portugal (and thus cut himself off from Napoleon), Christopher has instead decided to use the situation to his own enrichment. On the one hand, he acts as agent provacateur, encouraging rebellious officers of the French Army to conspire against "King Nicolas," and then, when the time is right, offers to expose all of them to Soult, demanding a monopoly on the port trade in return (Christopher confidently expects the French to win the war, and thus to be the permanent rulers of Portugal). On the other hand, he has seduced Kate and married her in a sham ceremony, for both her youthful beauty and her father's fortune. Seen openly collaborating with the French, he assures Sharpe that he is simply on a secret mission for Britain. Sharpe is temporarily duped, but realizes the truth when he and his men are ambushed by a French detachment. The Riflemen escape and rejoin the main British force, while Christopher makes his way to the French lines, and Kate, against her better judgment, goes with him. Acting as scouts for the Army, Sharpe spots a small group of boats overlooked by the French that can be used to cross the river at the one weak point in the French's defenses. A division crosses in secret and, by the afternoon, have entrenched themselves and sparked the French in a desperate attempt to push them out again. In the aftermath of the British victory and the desperate French retreat, Sharpe confers with General Wellesley and Foreign Office dignitary Lord Pumphrey, who says that Christopher has done no lasting harm, but is a traitor nonetheless and should be disposed of. Sharpe, Jorge, and their men accompany the British pursuit of the fleeing French forces, who have managed to force their way through the Portuguese barricade at a narrow bridge. Catching up with them during the retreat, Jorge rescues Kate and Sharpe kills Christopher.