Sharpe (TV Series)

Sharpe's Eagle (1993)

Brian Cox: Maj. Hogan

Quotes 

• Maj. Hogan : [talking about of the South Essex]  Sir Henry apart, the South Essex... what do you make of them, man for man?

  Richard Sharpe : They're flogged soldiers, sir. And flogging teaches a soldier only one lesson.

  Maj. Hogan : What's that, Richard?

  Richard Sharpe : How to turn his back.

• Maj. Hogan : [in a flat deliberate tone to Simmerson after the disastrous loss at the bridge]  You've lost the Colours, sir. The King's own Colours, touched by his own hand. Take my advice and a pistol, and go behind that tent and blow out what's left of your brains.

• Maj. Hogan : Richard, your mind has been making appointments your body should never keep.

  Richard Sharpe : What do you mean by that?

  Maj. Hogan : You have ambition which could be the making of you but you also have a romantic soul which could be the breaking of you. Ambition and romance is a poisonous brew, and I mean to distill the one from the other.

• Maj. Hogan : [Sharpe has just taught the South Essex to fire three rounds a minute]  Sharpe.

  Richard Sharpe : Yes, sir?

  Maj. Hogan : Stop showing off, Sharpe.

  Richard Sharpe : [grins]  Yes, sir.

• Maj. Hogan : And what are your intentions, Sir Arthur?

  Wellesley : Why, Hogan, I mean to give the French a damn good thrashing.

• [Gibbons plans to challenge Sharpe to a duel] 

  Maj. Hogan : Oh, give me your hand, sir! You're a brave fellow, Gibbons! Sharpe's a killer! Killed three French cavalrymen and saved Wellesley's life - three seconds, slash, cut thrust! And that was when he was still a sergeant. Shall we say six o'clock tomorrow morning, in the field behind the camp?

  [Gibbons swallows, plainly terrified] 

  Maj. Hogan : Or should we say it was damn dark, and you made a damn bad mistake?

  Gibbons : Silly mistake. Say no more about it, eh?

  Maj. Hogan : Good thinking, Gibbons. Sharpe would have shot out your left eye at a minute past six, and you'd have spent all day tomorrow looking up at nothing with the other.

• [During Sir Henry's toast at a dinner party in camp] 

  Countess Josefina : I'm getting some air. Good night, Major. Enjoy yourself.

  Maj. Hogan : [whispering]  I will! I've laid ten guineas with Leroy that Sir Henry will talk for a full hour. Five minutes more, and I'll have won my bet.

• [Sharpe has challenged Berry to a duel after he and Gibbons have raped and flogged Josefina] 

  Wellesley : My orders are perfectly clear, Lawford. Dueling is strictly forbidden. I shall make no exception in respect of Captain Sharpe. If he fights Berry at dawn, he will be back among the ranks before the sun is up!

  [Lawford opens his mouth] 

  Wellesley : There is no more to say, sir!

  Colonel Lawford : Yes, sir.

  [Wellesley walks over to Hogan] 

  Wellesley : French hopping about a bit, Hogan.

  Maj. Hogan : Yes, sir.

  Wellesley : Send out a patrol to take a look. Not too big. Eight men, two officers.

  Maj. Hogan : I have done so, sir. About an hour ago. Captain Sharpe and Lieutenant Berry.

  Wellesley : That should do the trick, Hogan.

  [Lawford grins] 

• Colonel Lawford : [on Wellesley]  God, Hogan. Horse, foot, cannon... the French outnumber us three to one. Does he know something we don't?

  Maj. Hogan : He knows three things, Lawford. He knows that on his left, the French will not attack the fort. He knows that on his right, Simmerson will run. And he knows that in the center, that Daddy Hill will stand. Means nothing to me either, Lawford. That's why he's a general, and we ain't.

• Wellesley : Must be a damn good book, Hogan.

  Maj. Hogan : Shakespeare, sir. "Julius Caesar." Marc Antony. "Lend me your ears," eh?

  Wellesley : [reading]  "These many then shall die. Their names are pricked." By God, Hogan, you may be sure my name is well-pricked by those needles at Horse Guards!

  Maj. Hogan : Ah, a general who wins battles and lives to claim the credit will never lack for enemies in London, sir.

• Maj. Hogan : Do you know anything about art, Richard? - Rubens, Boticelli...?

  [puts up an unidentifiable drawing. Sharpe and Harper look at it, blankly] 

  Richard Sharpe : What the devil is it, sir?

  Maj. Hogan : It's a map of Spain! - Oh, sorry, it's upside down... Makes no difference either way!

• Maj. Hogan : Ambition and romance is a poisonous brew. And I mean to distill one from the other.

  [...] 

  Maj. Hogan : Oh, believe me, Richard, I've drunk of the cup. And its intoxication I can well remember!

  Richard Sharpe : I can hold my drink, sir.

  Maj. Hogan : See that you do, Sharpe. See that you do!