Dear Mr Cornwell, I’m a long time fans of your work and I think I own most if not all of the historical books you have written. The reason I am writing is to ask you for clarification of the historical note you made regarding the ‘Real Compania Irlandesa’ in Sharpe’s Battle. In that note your mention that in reality the Spanish Royal Guard had no Irish company, but actually consisted of four companies, one Spanish, one Italian, one Flemish and one American. I’ve been trying to find out more about this battalion, particularly the American company. (I assume we are talking about a company formed with volunteers from one of Spain’s American colonies) But so far I’ve found nothing. Can you point me at a source or reference, as they don’t appear in any of the books I have on the Peninsula Campaign? Kind Regards David