Dear Mr. Cornwell, I am writing a manuscript about 1810- As you already wrote I wont bother you with the details at all, due to authors rights lawyers (I happen to be one, sorry)etc. I am facing a bit of a problem. I like to be utterly thorough in my research and one of the main characters is a major in the army at the Peninsula wars. I write 1810, February, the major is a Scottish war hero and has an assignment in his TENT. For most of my research I read ALL of your Sharpes because it gives me such a better idea about the real warfare stories than all the biographies of Wellington and others together. (This is a compliment). February 1810 behind the Torres Vedras lines is terribly cold. On the other hand I cannot imagine Wellington built barracks to make his soldiers more comfortable, but billeting must also have been a problem. (Due to all the fugitives, privates etc behind the lines) So is a tent feasible for my hero major of the 42nd? I know they were quite static, but so was the stay behind the Torres Vedras lines. Shortly after wards my hero sits at a regimental diner visited by Wellington, I placed it in Lisbon, but is this in accordance with Wellington's movements and the movements of the 42nd? Would it be possible to find out where the 42nd was based/billeted in February 1810? As you described a few times: info about times when there was nothing happening in those periods is terribly scarce. I wonder if you would have suggestions about research centers. I will be writing sequels until after the battle of Waterloo. Hoping not to intrude/ask too much, Sincerely, Constance van Laer. PS I am suffering a temporary addiction to Sharpe. Bear with me please.
I think it more likely that they were billeted in private houses, barns or buildings, but there were a few tents - I suspect your major is in a private house? And the National Army Museum might be an excellent place to look for any surviving letters and diaries of men who served in the 42nd during that period.