Dona Juanita de Elia is the secondary antagonist of the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Battle and its television adaptation.
She was portrayed by Siri Neal.
Biography[]
Novel[]
Dona Juanita was a Spanish adventuress who secretly worked for the French. She had taken a uniform from the regiment of every man she had slept with, wearing them for riding and hunting. Under the instruction of Major Pierre Ducos, she became the lover of Lord Kiely, commander of the Real Irlandesa Compania who had been assigned to work with the British. Ducos used Juanita as a courier to deliver fake newspapers to Father Sarsfield, his agent among the company, which contained false reports of British atrocities in Ireland. Ducos introduced Juanita to Brigadier-General Guy Loup, who would be providing her with supplies. There was an instant animalistic attraction between Juanita and Loup and the pair became lovers.
Juanita headed for the fort where Kiely and his men were camped, with Loup's men pursuing her as cover. Kiely challenged her pursuers to a duel but was outmatched when one accepted. Juanita killed the Frenchman, claiming he had been going for a pistol. She mocked Captain Richard Sharpe's claim that Loup would attack them, while being fully aware that Loup had a score to settle with Sharpe for executing two of his men he had caught pillaging a Spanish village. Juanita opened the gate to the fort so Loup could get in during the night and convinced Kiely to take shelter with her in the gatehouse. Loup was eventually fought off, but only after massacring a Portuguese regiment stationed there.
Although Loup had been ordered to the French lines, Juanita went to his camp to collect more papers claiming the British intended to send all Irish troops to a certain death in the Carribean. She was caught by Sharpe and his men, along with a group of troops from the Real Irlandesa Compania and the Spanish partisan El Castrador. Sharpe let her go after they had slept together, letting her walk back to French lines, and she took Rifleman Perkins' jacket as a momento of the liaison.
She accompanied Loup at the Battle of Fuentes de Onouro. Seeing Sharpe duelling with Loup and gaining the upper hand, she rode forward and shot Sharpe in the shoulder, wounding him. She was then promptly killed by a shot from Sergeant Patrick Harper, shortly before Sharpe killed Loup by drowning him.
Television[]
Juanita appeared to be a Spanish partisan but was in reality the lover of Guy Loup and his partner in his plan to gain revenge on Major Richard Sharpe. She took shelter in the fort where Sharpe was training the Real Irlandesa Compania and seduced their commander Lord Benedict Kiely, enraging his wife Lucy, who punched her on seeing her emerging from Kiely's tent with him. She distributed fake newspapers telling stories of British atrocities in Ireland and claimed the hills were free of French troops, allowing Loup to launch an unsuccessful attack.
When Kiely learned Lucy was pregnant and tried to send her to safety, Juanita used a combination of bribery and the anti-British propaganda to convince Guardsman O'Rourke and the rest of her escort to instead deliver her to Loup. She was seen conspiring with Loup by the Spanish girl Miranda so stabbed and killed her, leaving her body in the hills. She told Kiely of Lucy's capture and warned him she would be killed if Kiely joined Sharpe in his attack on Loup's fort: She and Loup hoped the desertion would cause other Irish regiments to abandon the British.
Sharpe managed to escape the fort during the attack, leaving his men behind, and confronted Kiely over his apparent cowardice, duelling him. When Sharpe triumphed and was set to kill Kiely, Juanita shot him and urged Kiely to kill him. She prepared to kill Sharpe herself, only for Kiely to slash her with his sword, killing her.
