They succeed in stopping the French attack. Sharpe steadies the South Essex, much improved by his training, and leaves them under the command of Leroy. Simmerson, seeing a French column approaching his position, flees. The next day, the Battle of Talavera is fought. They run into the French during the fighting, Berry shoots Sharpe from behind, but is killed by Harper before he can finish the job. To forestall a duel, Wellesley orders a night patrol to be led by Sharpe and Berry. Berry deliberately provokes Sharpe by abusing Countess Josefina, a woman Sharpe had rescued from Gibbons and taken under his protection. Enraged, Simmerson tells Berry to dispose of Sharpe. Wellesley promotes Sharpe to captain for his part in the skirmish, instead of Gibbons (though he cannot guarantee that Sharpe will be able to keep his new rank). Afterwards, the dying Lennox asks Sharpe for a French Imperial Eagle to wash away the shame of losing the colours. Sharpe and his men go to the rescue, while Simmerson panics and orders the bridge to be blown up, even though some of his men are still on the other side. His fears are realised when a hidden French cavalry unit overruns the British Lennox is fatally wounded and the King's colours are lost. Lennox strenuously objects, but obeys the command. When Simmerson spots a small French patrol on the other side of the river, he orders Lennox to take a small detachment and drive them off. The bridge is taken without resistance and Sharpe's men start to place explosives. However, Major Lennox, who knows Sharpe from their days in India, and American-born Captain Leroy appreciate his military expertise. Simmerson, his nephew Lieutenant Gibbons and Lieutenant Berry despise Sharpe for his low birth. He orders Lieutenant Richard Sharpe and his band of 'chosen men' to accompany the arrogant, incompetent, newly arrived Sir Henry Simmerson and his South Essex Regiment on a mission to destroy a bridge vital to French troop movements.

In 1809, Sir Arthur Wellesley, commander of the British forces in the Iberian Peninsula, prepares to invade French-controlled Spain. Shown on ITV in 1993, the adaptation stars Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley and Assumpta Serna. Sharpe's Eagle is the second in the series of Sharpe historical war television dramas, based on the 1981 novel of the same name.

Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell