It is the summer of 1812 and Richard Sharpe, newly recovered from the wound he received in the fighting at Salamanca, is given an easy duty to guard a Commissary Officer posted to an obscure Spanish fort where there are some captured French muskets to repair But unknown to the British, the French are planning a lightning raid across the River Tornes, and they reckon the obscure Spanish fort, which guards an ancient bridge across the river, will be lightly guarded Sharpe is in for a fight