Historical Achievements
Despite being a fictional hero, Sharpe is often portrayed as the driving force in a number of pivotal historical events. Cornwell frankly admits to taking license with history, placing Sharpe in the place of another man whose identity is lost to history, or sometimes "stealing another man's thunder." Such accomplishments include:
- Disabling a booby trap laid for the British soldiers assaulting Seringapatam (Cornwell points out in the novel's historical note that there never actually was such a booby trap, and the event was based on a British shell that struck a magazine in the city days earlier);
- Killing the Tippoo Sultan and looting his corpse;
- Saving Arthur Wellesley's life at the Battle of Assaye;
- Storming the walls of the inner fortress at Gawilghur and opening the gates to the besieging forces;
- Sighting the boats that allowed Wellesley's forces to ambush Marshall Nicolas Soult's forces at the Battle of Oporto;
- Being the first British soldier to capture an Imperial Eagle, at the Battle of Talavera (This event never happened, the first French Eagle to be captured by the British was captured at the Battle of Barrossa in 1811);
- Successfully assaulting the central breach at Badajoz;
- Deliberately triggering the massive explosion that destroyed the fortress of Almeida;
- Taking command of a regiment driving off the advance of the French Imperial Guard at the Battle of Waterloo.
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