John Lynch (born Sean Lynch and generally referred to as Sergeant Lynch) is a minor antagonist in the Bernard Cornwell novel Sharpe's Regiment and its television adaptation.
He was portrayed by Robert Patterson, who also played Mr. Casey in Nuns on the Run.
Biography[]
Novel[]
Lynch was an Anglicised Irish soldier: He was born in Kerry but hid his origin, trying to lose his accent, changing his first name from Sean to John, and converting to Anglicanism. He ended up as a sergeant in the second battalion of the South Essex under Colonel Bartholomew Girdwood, who became his role model. Lynch was one of Girdwood's chief enforcers at the brutal Foulness training camp. Although an effective drill sergeant, he stole the recruits' pay by making up deductions and punished them by forcing them to hold heavy weights above their heads.
Lynch unknowingly encountered Major Richard Sharpe and Sergeant Major Patrick Harper when they turned up incognito posing as new recruits. He tormented them, forcing Harper to repeatedly shout "God save the King", but was unable to find fault with them. He killed Charlie Weller's dog and bullied the educated recruit Giles Marriott. When Marriott tried to desert, Lynch killed him in cold blood. He pinned the blame for the near escape on Harper, who had tried to order him not to fire, claiming he and Marriott were in it together and Harper had tried to hit him. He convinced Girdwood to hunt Harper through the marshes.
The tables were turned on Lynch when Sharpe and Harper revealed their true identities and took over the camp, ending the illegal crimping scheme Girdwood was part of, where recruits were sold to other regiments, and instead selecting recruits to join the first battalion in Spain. Lynch found himself under Harper's command, ordered to shout "God save Ireland", and was challenged by Sharpe about Marriott's murder. Lynch said he was acting under Girdwood's orders but Sharpe told him he could choose to ignore orders, demonstrating by telling him to lick a latrine.
Lynch accompanied the new recruits to Spain, where Sharpe placed him in a detached unit under Harper's command and full of Irishmen. Lynch realised with fear that his punishment for killing Marriott was at hand. He was killed at the Battle of the Nivelle, probably by the rest of his unit, with it noted he had been cornered and torn to pieces.
Television[]
Lynch was one of the drill sergeants at the Foulness camp, tormenting Sharpe and Harper and bullying the other recruits. He briefly struggled with Harper after killing Marriott and reported the incident to Girdwood. After Sharpe and Harper took over the camp, Lynch accompanied them to Hyde Park where Sharpe revealed the hidden troops to the Prince Regent.
Lynch joined the battalion as they marched towards France, with Harper ordering him to again shout "God save Ireland." Seeing French troops ahead, Lynch turned to run and was bayoneted to death by the men behind him, who repeated Lynch's own phrase by referring to him as "filth".
