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| John Rossendale | |
| Medium: | Television, Book |
| Nationality: | English |
| Rank: | Cavalry Officer |
| Appearances: | Sharpe's Revenge |
| Actor: | Alexander Armstrong and Alexis Denisof |
Lord John Rossendale was a cavalry officer in the British Army. He was portrayed in the TV series originally by Alexander Armstrong, and later by Alexis Denisof.
Novels[]
Rossendale first appeared as a galloper in Sharpe's Regiment, carrying an invitation to Sharpe to appear before the Prince Regent. He was friendly and rather impressed by Sharpe.
In Sharpe's Revenge, he is contacted by Jane Sharpe who is terrified that the judge Advocate will confiscate her husband's fortune which she has commandeered and upon which she is living. Rossendale, becomes her champion, and then her lover, betraying a man he had respected. He lives in terror of Sharpe's revenge for being cuckolded, but is utterly obsessed with Jane Sharpe. When they openly go about as a couple, they create a scandal.
At Waterloo, he inadvertently crosses paths with Sharpe at a ball, and Sharpe tells him in no uncertain terms that he wants his money back, but that Lord John can keep the whore, meaning Jane. A second confrontation takes place in the rain near Quatre Bras, Sharpe takes Lord John's promissory note, and gives him a bit of dirty rope as a symbol of divorce.
When Rossendale rides with the cavalry the following day, he is caught out by French lancers and stabbed several times. He lies on the battlefield all day, in pain and delirium, robbed first by the men who brought him down, and then again that evening by a local woman who found a living victim problematic. She cut his throat to keep him from making noise as she robbed him.
Television[]
He appears in Sharpe's Revenge carrying the news of Sharpe's arrest to Jane at her London townhouse.
He later engaged in an adulterous affair with Sharpe's wife, Jane Gibbons and also used Sharpe's money to pay off his own debts. Jane prefered his Lordship's idea of society to that of her husband's, and attended what social engagements she could with him, but when they openly went about as a couple, they created a scandal.
Eventually, Jane tired of the gossip, and the snubs, and wants Sharpe dead. She challenged Rossendale to kill him on the battlefield at Waterloo. He was not at all sure he could commit murder, but his obsession with Jane had him considering it.
Sharpe confronted Rossendale in the woods prior to the battle, and Rossendale pointed his pistol at him, but did not have the courage to fire it. Sharpe took his pistol and sword from him, and destroyed them. Rossendale then lied to his comrades about his sword, claiming it was destroyed by French Hussars. He then vows to kill Sharpe during the battle, but before he could find Sharpe, he was dragged off his horse by French troops and bayoneted.
Jane was pregnant by him at the time of his death, something she had not told him.