Episode Overview
In 1809 Spain, Colonel Sir Henry Simmerson arrives with his raw South Essex regiment. Wellesley, needing to stay on Simmerson's good side, assigns the unit to destroy the bridge at Valdelacasa. Knowing Simmerson is unfit, Wellesley tasks Sharpe with ensuring success in exchange for a captaincy. Simmerson is enraged to learn Sharpe is a former enlisted man, not a gentleman. Out of spite, he orders Sharpe to drill the men to fire three rounds per minute by nightfall—or face flogging. Sharpe and Harper succeed, only deepening Simmerson's hatred. The next day, Simmerson orders Captain Lennox to lead the regiment across the bridge against a small French patrol. But a French cavalry force suddenly appears, and the South Essex panics, fleeing back across the bridge as the horsemen slaughter them.