Dear Bernard,

A question I’ve had for a long time is “How did Hakeswill get from the 33rd regiment to the South Essex?”  When we last saw Hakeswill in India in Sharpe’s Triumph, he was under the foot of an elephant that Sharpe had used to get Obadiah to call him ‘Sir’.  If Hakeswill had returned with the 33rd to England, he would not have arrived to Gravesend until July 1812.  Yet, in Sharpe’s Company, he arrives at Badajoz with the South Essex replacements at Badajoz in March of 1812.  Was not 18th/19th century enlistment term with a regiment ‘for life’ during war?  Weren’t transfers between regiments rare?  While this is not a critical question in the Sharpe story, it seems that there is at least one story to be told regarding Obadiah between India and Portugal.

I’m looking forward to reading War Lord in November and to seeing the release date for the next Sharpe book.

Regards,

Paul Kaster