Colonel Pierre de l'Eclin is the main antagonist of the Richard Sharpe novel Sharpe's Rifles and its television adaptation.
He was portrayed by Malcolm Jamieson.
Biography[]
Novel[]
A French chasseur colonel, de l'Eclin's main objective was hunting down Major Don Blas Vivar, a Spanish officer opposed to the French rule of his country, who was planning to inspire the Spanish resistance by unfurling the gonfalon flag of St. James in the occupied city of Santiago de Campostella. During his quest, he attacked a group of British soldiers involved in the retreat to Corunna, capturing or killing several of them. During the combat, he nearly killed Lieutenant Richard Sharpe by holding his sword in his weaker right hand and then switching to his dominant left at the last moment, but Sharpe reacted in time to parry.
After Sharpe and Vivar had joined up, de l'Eclin had his men sack a Spanish village in order to draw their attention while he stole the strongbox containing the gonfalon, but he was stopped by Rifleman Harper. He later tracked Sharpe down again to a farmhouse, mistakenly believing Vivar and the gonfalon were still with him. He allowed the Parkers, a family of British missionaries, to leave unharmed, desiring their daughter Louisa, and told Sharpe if his men did not surrender immediately they would all be killed. However, he was driven off by the arrival of Vivar with Spanish cavalry.
de l'Eclin retreated back to Santiago, where Louisa told him Sharpe and Vivar had abandoned the mission and gave him their supposed route. de l'Eclin was apparently fooled, taking most of the city's troops to search for them and leaving it open to an allied attack. In reality, he and most of the men were holed up in the palace, which remained under French control when Sharpe and Vivar captured the rest of the city, ready to spring an ambush during Vivar's ceremony.
Sharpe realised the ruse at the last minute, since the man outside the city wearing de l'Eclin's uniform was right-handed. He managed to disable many of de l'Eclin's horses with caltrops, then took his men out of the city. De l'Eclin took charge of the French horsemen out there and tried to wipe out the riflemen, but was again stopped by Vivar's reappearance. Challenged by Sharpe, he tried to kill him with another feint, aiming to bring his sword down on top of his head, but Sharpe again parried and grabbed hold of him. Harper struck de l'Eclin's horse, causing him to be thrown from it and leaving him surrounded by riflemen. In the melee that followed, de l'Eclin was killed by Harper.
Television[]
De L'Eclin pursued Vivar and the Spanish partisan Teresa Moreno in an attempt to take the flag of Santiago from them. In the process, he stumbled upon Major Dunnett's detachment of the 95th Rifles and massacred them, but missed Sharpe and his men, who were out on patrol. He later led an attack on a Spanish village in order to lure Sharpe and Vivar away from the strongbox so his Spanish ally Tomas Vivar, Don Blas' brother, could steal it, but they were stopped by Harper.
De L'Eclin met Sharpe after he and his allies had infiltrated Santiago with help from Teresa, and made an unsuccessful attempt to convince him to abandon Vivar's crusade. With his men defeated in a battle, De L'Eclin fled the city but later returned alone and challenged Sharpe to a duel. When Sharpe gained the upper hand, De L'Eclin drew a pistol intending to shoot him, but was instead shot dead himself by Rifleman Perkins.
