Markham of the Marines
3 total works
Honour Be Damned finds the fiery British lieutenant in the waning days of the French Revolution. The revolution is turning in on itself - Robespierre has met the guillotine - but still the French fight on. After completing the siege of a French fortress in Corsica, Markham and his men are assigned to a sloop under the impetuous Captain Germain. Before long, Germain's foolhardy hunt for glory throws Markham and his 'Lobsters' into desperate ship-to-ship action. Fortunately, fighting hand to hand is what the battle-hardened Marines do best. Like Markham, Germain has been branded a coward, but in his zeal to restore his good name he sets Markham on another, more perilous venture. This time, Markham must go ashore to escort a group of French royalists on a secret mission. Dodging the French army patrols would be difficult enough, but it is particularly hazardous because he is shackled with a French count, a devious Catholic prelate, a young lady, and their contingent of servants. But what is the secret prize they are hunting for? Why have they embarked on this fool's errand? Markham must answer these questions as he untangles the deceit and subterfuge all around him. He must rely on the loyalty of his men and the ever-grudging assistance of Sergeant Rannoch to succeed in this most unusual and dangerous mission - one complicated by the unexpected arrival of a figure from Markham's past.
With his fiery Irish blood and well-known reputation for trouble, Lieutenant George Markham leads his embattled Royal Marines against the French in Corsica. His mission: to seize the island. His problem: not just the French, but spies, traitors, and jealous rivals - including jealous husbands. As the bastard son of a Catholic father and a Protestant mother, Markham has a lot to prove. But as a scarred veteran of the war in America and against the French, Markham is battle-hardened in a way too many of his senior officers aren't - and his hardness wins over his men, men whom even their own officers regard as the scum of the earth. With the help of these men, Markham ventures across the island to persuade the veteran war hero Pasquali Paoli to unite the Corsicans behind him. But their loyalty remains torn by a heritage of vendettas, French bribery, and cross and double cross. Enemies abound, in both French blue and British red, and the only men Markham can rely on are the grim, taciturn Sergeant Rannoch and a man who owes Markham his life - Bellamy, the educated, black Marine. Brimming with violent action and an energetic, pulsating plot, Honour Redeemed is a worthy successor to A Shred of Honour in the gripping Markham of the Marines series.
Irishman, papist, reputed coward - Markham is a man with something to prove. The death of his commander - killed by a lucky French musket ball to the throat - provides him with a chance to lead his men to glory. But it's not that easy. Markham, a foot soldier by training, is no sailor, and he is suddenly left with a band of surly, disgruntled conscripts under his command. The salty marines aboard the frigate Hebe deride his ignorance and undermine his authority. The soldiers from Markham's old regiment who have been transferred to the Hebe blame him for the fact that they now must spend their days crammed on a ship. Worse, as the winter of 1793 comes, Markham and his troublemaking men must face the expansive terror of Revolutionary France. The fighting takes Markham the city of Toulon, where he makes the acquaintance of a French soldier named Napoleon Bonaparte. Bloody battles, lively seductions, fights with superiors, and run-ins with French spies to offer a stirring tale of derring-do that heats the blood and fires the imagination.