Rifleman John Williamson is the secondary antagonist of the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Havoc. He is a British soldier in 1809.
Biography[]
John Williamson was one of the soldiers of the 95th Rifles who were cut off from the main British army during the retreat to Corunna and joined up with the garrison in Portugal. Originally from Leicester, he had been caught stealing two candlesticks from a church and agreed to enlist rather than go to jail. He resented being under the command of Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, previously the battalion quartermaster, and believed they should be with the rest of the battalion in England. He and his friend Ned Tarrant attempted to take refuge in a tavern instead of retreating from the French attack on Oporto and had to be dragged out by Sharpe. When Tarrant was crippled by a bullet to the hip, Sharpe insisted on leaving him to be captured by the French rather than having Williamson slow them down carrying him, increasing his resentment.
After the detachment took up station at the home of Kate Savage, supposedly the new wife of Colonel James Christopher (although in reality Christopher already had a wife and had tricked Kate into thinking they were married by paying a priest to bless them), Williamson continued to complain, objecting to training with a musket and saying Sharpe was keeping them there to try and win a promotion. He managed to get into a fight with a partisan on a visit to the village, causing Sharpe to cancel leave. While on guard duty, Williamson and two other soldiers, Sims and Gataker, broke into the wine cellar and got drunk. Sharpe took Williamson into the woods and dared him to fight him, saying he'd arrange for him to go home if he did. Williamson refused, aware of how brutally Sharpe could fight.
When Christopher, who was playing both armies to ensure he ended up on the winning side, returned with a group of French soldiers, a battle broke out. Sharpe assigned Williamson to a burial party and Williamson took the opportunity to desert to Christopher. Sharpe stopped Sergeant Harper firing after him so as not to break a ceasefire with the French. Williamson became Christopher's servant and had designs on Kate.
After the French were defeated by the British and Portuguese at the Battle of Oporto, Williamson and Christopher fled with the French army and a reluctant Kate. As they were trying to cross into Spain, Sharpe found them among the retreating French army. Kate took the opportunity to flee and Williamson fought with Sharpe, resulting in both him and Christopher falling into the river. Sharpe chased them and Christopher urged a reluctant Williamson to fight and kill him. Unfamiliar with using a sword, Williamson was quickly defeated by Sharpe who fatally wounded him with a sword thrust to the belly and dumped him in the river, declaring that he hated deserters.
