Mr. Cornwell, I’m an avid Sharpe fan and am about half way through the series. I have two questions that I can’t seem to find answers for. The first being, why did Wellington retreat behind the Lines of Torres Vedras only to face Massena later at Fuentes de Ouoro? What did Wellington gain by this action? He clearly lost Almeida by doing so which later had to be re-taken. The second question which may not be as easy to answer is the missing number of riflemen. Up to Sharpe’s Battle, it seems like Sharpe has around 30 riflemen left but in Sharpe’s Company he only has 11 remaining. Did he lose that many at Fuentes de Ouoro? Thank you for your time and thank you most of all for creating Sharpe!

Shane