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Before they find it, they are surprised by a French patrol; they run for cover, but Dodd's two friends fall and are captured. From the safety of the rocks, Dodd looks back to see his friends hanged. He resolutely goes on alone and finds the French encampment. He patiently hides in the rocks watching the business of the camp for several days. Finally, he goes in by night, kills two sentries, and spreads highly flammable grease and oil (kept in cauldrons by the French for tarring rope, greasing cordage, and waterproofing their boats) over the pontoons and timber and rope, and sets it all on fire. From his hideout in the rocks, he sees the whole encampment burn, and is pleased with his success; he never learns that orders had arrived only that day for the French to burn the encampment themselves since Masséna had ordered a retreat.
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The three have nothing to eat, so the unnamed guerrilla visits the French encampment that night, kills a sentry and steals a pack mule. They slaughter the mule and smoke the meat, giving them enough food in their packs for several weeks. Then they set out to find the new bridge-building headquarters.
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After two months of guerrilla fighting, Dodd hears artillery fire from about ten miles away. He can tell by the sound that it is neither a battle nor a siege. He knows that anyone exchanging artillery fire with the French is an ally of his, so he takes his friend
Bernardino and sets out to see what
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Dodd avoids the retreating French army and happily rejoins his regiment, unacknowledged, unthanked and unconcerned about his months of demanding effort. Dodd does, however, get something that to him is more important; a new uniform, new boots, a shave, and his first ration of bread & salt in
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Unable to dislodge the
British rocketeers from their entrenchments on the far side of the river, the French gather up all the bridge-building supplies and move them farther up the river, to a position where the British can neither see them nor fire on them. Dodd determines to destroy the bridge
259:, and the French returning cannon fire to stop them. Dodd deduces that there must be something in the town that the British want to set on fire; furthermore, it must be something near the river. From this he can guess what the target must be: the French are trying to construct a
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During the
British withdrawal, Dodd becomes separated from his regiment and is cut off from the British forces, with the entire French army between him and the lines at Torres Vedras. In an attempt to get around the French, he heads for the Tagus River, hoping to follow it to
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material himself. He, Bernardino, and the unnamed guerrilla return to their band's headquarters, only to find that while they were gone the French had discovered and destroyed the whole band, hanging the men on trees and taking away the women and the food.
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against the French. The story is told from both the perspective of Dodd and the
Frenchmen he is fighting. Its picture of the hero's resolution and devotion to duty in dangerous circumstances caused it to be put on the official reading list endorsed by the
301:), a Rifleman named Matthew Dodd is separated from Sharpe's company in a skirmish during the Peninsular Campaign in 1810. Cornwell has acknowledged on his website that this character is intended to be the same individual depicted by Forester in
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and withdrew behind them, leaving the French force no options but to lay siege to the lines, or retreat. For three months the French encamped outside the lines, waiting for reinforcements from the other side of the
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is happening. They meet another
Portuguese guerrilla, whose name they never learn, who leads them to the site of the firing. There he sees British soldiers on the other side of the Tagus firing
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across the Tagus, and the
British are firing the rockets to try to burn the pontoon boats, rope, timber, and paint that are warehoused by the river.
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and spends two months with them, harassing the encamped French army, killing sentries and laying ambushes for scouting parties and supply animals.
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who is cut off from his regiment when the Allied army retreats behind the
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novels. It was also published in the United States under the title
338:"MCBUL 1500. The Marine Corps Professional Reading Program List"
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Cultural depictions of Arthur
Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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719:The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck
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108:Print (hardback & paperback)
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703:Randall and the River of Time
508:Hornblower in the West Indies
671:The Captain from Connecticut
226:, secretly constructed the
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484:Mr. Midshipman Hornblower
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757:Novels by C. S. Forester
145:is a 1932 novel of the
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687:The Bedchamber Mystery
591:The Shadow of the Hawk
228:Lines of Torres Vedras
183:Lines of Torres Vedras
767:The Bodley Head books
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322:HistoricalNovels.info
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179:95th Regiment of Foot
663:The Earthly Paradise
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615:Death to the French
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386:Death to the French
303:Death to the French
299:Death to the French
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583:The Wonderful Week
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334:Krulak, Charles C.
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340:. C4I.org
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679:The Ship
393:(Canada)
275:months.
257:Santarém
175:rifleman
169:Overview
133:74724893
59:Language
623:The Gun
279:Homages
253:rockets
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177:of the
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