Sir:

I’ve just finished rereading the entire Sharpe series for the second time.  Your writing is wonderfully evocative, and the history is unfailingly accurate.  Having said that, I do have a question.  On pp. 232-233 of the Penguin Books edition of “Waterloo” you ascribe Blucher’s late arrival to Gneisenau’s mistrust of Wellington and his consequent sabotaging of the march order of the four German corps.  I’ve also read Hofschroer’s two volume work on the Waterloo Campaign.  On pp. 48-58 of Vol. 2 “The German Victory” Hofschroer attempts to make the case that Blucher did the best he could (given difficult terrain, exhaustion and casualties in Zieten’s corps, etc.) and that Bulow’s corps was the best answer, despite that fact that it was the furthest away from Wellington.  So, whose argument is the better?  I’ve not read Jac Weller’s account, nor Lady Longford’s.  Does Hofschroer’s account have any substantial basis in fact, or is he simply a modern day Gneisenau?  Thankng you for all of your wonderful books, I have the honor to be

Yr Mst Obdnt Servt

Robert Eberly Jr., Esq.

Hilton Head Island, SC

PS:  I have walked the ground at Talavera, Salamanca, Fuentes de Onoro and spent a night in the parador at Ciudad Rodrigo.