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Colonel Caillou is the main antagonist of the Bernard Cornwell short story "Sharpe's Christmas". He is a French officer in 1813.
Biography[]
Colonel Caillou was the commanding officer of the French 75th Regiment. During the retreat from Vitoria, he took refuge at the French-held fort at Ochagavia. Soon after, the fort was ordered abandoned, with the garrison and the troops that had taken refuge there to return to France. Their target was Irati, where they would be met by the force led by General Picard.
Caillou was junior to the fort's commander, Colonel Jean Gudin, but was contemptuous of the aging officer and showed him no respect. He objected to Gudin's insistence on taking his garrison's wives and children in their column and stated that if the 75th's Eagle standard was lost to the British, he would make sure Gudin was blamed and shot by firing squad. His anger was increased by a number of mishaps that delayed their progress to Irati.
When they arrived at Irati, they found it was already in the hands of Major Richard Sharpe's battalion, who had managed to check Picard's advance and was thus blocking the way between the two French forces. Sharpe sent Captain D'Alembord and Ensign Nicholls to negotiate with the new French arrivals. Caillou was incensed at the idea of surrendering and disrupted Gudin and D'Alembord's attempts to negotiate, aiming his pistol at the two English officers and declaring he didn't recognise their flag of truce. He tried to order his men to attack the British, resulting in him and Gudin aiming their pistols at each other. Mistaking movement by Nicholls for an attack, Caillou shot him dead, violating the rules of truce. Gudin instantly opened fire as well, killing Caillou with a shot that entered the bottom of his jaw and struck his brain.
