Assumpta Serna

General Wellesley sends Major Hogan, Sharpe, the chosen men and the South Essex Regiment to destroy a bridge. Sharpe is immediately in conflict with two junior officers of the South Essex and their incompetent commander.

In the Peninsular War, a British sergeant is field promoted to a lieutenant in charge of a disrespectful rifle company.

Portugal 1813. A band of deserters, including Sharpe's old enemy, Obadiah Hakeswill, have captured two women, one the wife of a high-ranking English officer, and are holding them hostage for ransom. Sharpe is given the 60th Rifles and a Rocket troop, as well as his majority to rescue the women. But while Sharpe may be able to deal with his old enemy, he has yet to face a newer threat, the French Major Duclos.

Sharpe is a Captain saddled with the South Essex, a battalion run by incompetents and filled with soldiers who have never been in battle. When the South Essex loses its colours (its regimental flag), Sharpe vows to save the honor of the regiment by capturing a French Imperial standard: an eagle.