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Sharpe's Enemy

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Sharpe's Enemy (1994)

Sharpe's Enemy is the fourth episode of the Carlton UK miniseries Sharpe, starring Sean Bean as Captain Richard Sharpe, the officer of a small Rifles detachment during the Napoleonic Wars. It was filmed on location in the Ukraine and the Crimea. The episode follows Sharpe and his company in their efforts to rescue two women hostages from an "army" of deserters camping along the Portugese border.

The following weapons were used in the miniseries Sharpe's Enemy:



Rifles

Baker Rifle

The most prominently used weapon is the Baker Flintlock Rifle, issued to special units of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean) and his "Chosen Men" – Sgt. Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley), Riflemen Cooper (Michael Mears), Harris (Jason Salkey), Hagman (John Tams) and Perkins (Lyndon Davies) all carry Bakers, as does the company of the 60th Rifles led by Captain Frederickson (Philip Whitchurch).

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Baker Rifle (1801-1837), Caliber - 0.625 inch (15.9 mm)
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Rifleman Taylor cocks his Baker Rifle.
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Rifleman Perkins (Lyndon Davies) aims his Baker.
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Sharpe (Sean Bean) fires his Baker.
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The 60th Rifles lie in wait on the other side the door the escaping deserters are so desperately trying to break through.
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Sharpe and the Riflemen open fire with their Bakers, while Corporal Kelly (Morgan Jones) fires his Brown Bess Flintlock Musket.
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The 60th Rifles fire their Bakers at the approaching French.
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Harris (Jason Salkey) picks off an officer in the approaching French column.
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Cooper (Michael Mears) does the same.

Brown Bess Flintlock Musket

The standard long arm issued to "redcoat" British soldiers is the Brown Bess Flintlock Musket.

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Original "India Pattern" Brown Bess musket made 1805-1840 - .75 caliber
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A firing squad takes aim at Hakeswill.

Unknown Muskets

The advancing French soldiers carry Flintlock muskets of an unknown kind.

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Pistols

Various characters use Flintlock Pistols of various kinds, including Col. Sir Augustus Farthingdale (Jeremy Child), Hakeswill (Pete Postlethwaite), and "Marshall" Pot-Au-Feu (Tony Haygarth).

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Sir Augustus Farthingdale (Jeremy Child) fires his pistol (little more than a noisemaker) into the air to get Harper's attention.
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Hakeswill (Pete Postlethwaite) holds his Flintlock Pistol to Isabella's (Elizabeth Hurley) head.
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Hakeswill tries to hold Isabella hostage with his (now-empty) pistol.
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Col. Dubreton (Francois Guetary) holds his own pistol on Hakeswill.
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An officer administers the coup de grace to Hakeswill.

Boxlock Blunderbuss

Teresa Moreno (Assumpta Serna), carries a brass boxlock blunderbuss pistol with a cannon style barrel and underfolding bayonet.

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Boxlock blunderbuss pistol, with cannon barrel and folding bayonet
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Teresa (Assumpta Serna) is forced to lower her pistol, and is shot by Hakeswill in return.

Other

Congreve Rockets

One of the more bizarre weapons featured in the episode is the Rocket artillery invented by Sir William Congreve (1772-1828). The Prince-Regent of England (the future King George IV) was so awed by these weapons that he insisted on sending a troop of them to the Duke of Wellington's Peninsular Army. But since neither Congreve, nor anyone else had any concept of aerodynamics, the rockets had no fins, or other stabilizers attached, and thus were wildly inaccurate.

The rockets were sporadically used in British Army engagements in the following years, including during the War of 1812 against the United States, inspiring the phrase "the rockets' red glare" in "The Star-Spangled Banner", the American National Anthem.

However, Sharpe uses them to surprising effect when fighting off a French column, since the weapons are more terrifying than conventional artillery, and because a French column is such a large, tightly-packed mass of men that the rockets cannot fail to hit part of it.

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Congreve Rockets taking off.
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Captain Frederickson (Philip Whitchurch) empties one of the rocket canisters into a sack, making a set of impromptu grenades.
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Lt. Gilliland (Nicholas Rowe) orders Teresa's partisans to light the fuses to the rockets.