Sean Bean stars as the maverick British rifleman Major Richard Sharpe in two feature-length television movies set during the Napoleonic Wars In & Sharpe&s Battle& Sharpe & his loyal band of chosen men help Lord Keily prepare the ceremonial Royal Irish Company for their first encounter with the enemy Trouble arises amongst the Irish soldiers when false reports are circulated of a massacre in Ireland perpetrated by English troops Meanwhile Lord Kiely begins an affair with a Spanish woman leaving Lady Kiely to turn to Sharpe for some loving comfort In & Sharpe&s Sword& Sharpe&s efforts to protect the identity of master spy El Mirador leave him beaten & badly wounded He is nursed back to health by a beautiful girl who has been struck mute after the brutal slaying of her companions Sharpe soon re-enters the fray & not only to save the skin of El Mirador but also to avenge the killings witnessed by the girl