Comandante Teresa Moreno was born approximately in 1787, as Bernard Cornwell fixes her age as 23 in August 1810 (Sharpe's Gold), and she dies December 27, 1812, at the hands of Obadiah Hakeswill. Comandante Teresa is a fictional character in the Sharpe's Adventure novels of Bernard Cornwell. She is a leader of a group of Spanish Partisans, aka Guerrilleros, an assassin, and the first wife of Richard Sharpe. I have to wonder if Cornwell patterned his Teresa Moreno after the real life Partisan leader, Agustina de Aragón, a true Spanish heroine, who later served as a Captain in Wellington's service.Teresa Moreno is the daughter of wealthy Spanish border landowner Cesar Moreno and his wife, Antonia, a noble family of Spain. Teresa's character is introduced in the novel, Sharpe's Gold, as a young member of a partisan group led by her father Cesar and El Catolico to whom she was betrothed. The French were holding her home in Casatejada (where a wealth of Spanish Gold is hidden) and both Teresa and her brother Ramon are rescued by Captain Richard Sharpe and his riflemen. After proving her cunning and siding with the English (against El Catolico) to ensure the gold gets to Wellington, Sharpe nicknames her "La Aguja" (The Needle).Teresa and Sharpe have a daughter, Antonia, whom I place as born about mid June to early July, 1811 based on page 60 of Sharpe's Company. The early morning hours after the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (Jan 19, 1812), Teresa tells Richard he has a daughter who is a little over seven months old. After the Siege of Badajoz, Richard meets his daughter for the first time and he and Teresa wed April 7, 1812.Sharpe's bitter enemy, the man who had him flogged in India (Sharpe's Tiger), Sergeant Hakeswill, comes back into the picture. On December 25th 1812, Teresa is involved in the Battle of Adrados, leading Spanish light infantry to the valley. Deserter and leader of a band of Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English deserters, Hakeswill takes advantage of the confusion of battle to escape from his captors and shoots Teresa while she is attempting to capture him. Sharpe is devastated by the loss of his wife and hands Antonia over to Teresa's brother, Ramon Moreno and his wife to raise. Richard never sees Antonia again.In the BBC series based on the Sharpe novels, Teresa is played by stunning Spanish actress Assumpta Serna who based her portrayal on real life partisan and Spanish hero, Agustina de Aragón.
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