Colonel Hector McCandless appeared in the novels Sharpe's Tiger and Sharpe's Triumph. He is described as tall, thin, white haired, with a harsh face, erect posture, and despite being over sixty, moving with the ease of a much younger man. He credited his good health to his religion and a rejection of the use of tobacco, alcohol, and meat. He is called honest, tough, and wise.
In Sharpe's Tiger, he is colonel of the East India Company troops, and the chief of intelligence. He had over the years learned half a dozen Indian dialects, surveyed and mapped the Carbatic coast and had ridden the length of Mysore. On a survey of defenses in the hostile territory under the Tippoo Sultan, he is captured and incarcerated by the Sultan. He gives the false name of Colonel Ross and explains that he was out looking for forage. With no other evidence, and the fact that he was caught in full uniform, delayed any decision about him and he was installed in the dungeon.
Richard Sharpe and William Lawford infiltrate the fortress of Seringapatam posing as deserters, with the intention of recusing Colonel McCandless. To test him, Sharpe is told to shoot McCandless, and is given a musket, powder, and shot. He loads without hesitation, loudly declares he'd pay for the privilege of killing a British officer, then very quietly asks if McCandless has any information for the general, receives a reply, and pulls the trigger.
He later explains to the appalled Lawford, he had already realized that the powder would not fire by the taste and texture. Nor would the sultan have given a loaded weapon to someone he was unsure of when he was in range. McCandless praised Sharpe for his decisive action.
Once Obediah Hakeswill joins the prisoners of the Tippoo, he reveals Sharpe's and Lawford's true identities, and Tippoo throws them in the dungeon with McCandless. Hakeswill is held in the dungeon as well. During their incarceration McCandless and Lawford teach Sharpe to read and write, while the Colonel develops a distaste bordering on hatred for Hakeswill. The religious McCandless is particularly irritated by the sergeant's repetition of the phrase 'says so in the gospels.'
Sharpe, Lawford, and McCandless escape with the help of Mary Bickerstaff even as the British attack.
In Sharpe's Triumph, McCandless again has a need for Sharpe, and the two travel to meet with Major General Arthur Wellesley to inform him they are hunting William Dodd a deserter from the East India Company troops, McCandless has been tasked with hunting him down. Sharpe accompanies him in the search since he is one of the few ever left alive by the renegade and can recognize him.
At one point, McCandless' horses are stolen and McCandless wounded during the theft. Sharpe leaves McCandless in the care of a local woman. When McCandless is recovered, he and Sharpe reunite with the army as it advances towards Borkardan. Using some the plunder taken from the Tippoo Sultan, Sharpe buys one of Wellesley's spare horses for McCandless, though he pretends that McCandless is the one buying the horse.
Hakeswill attempts to arrest Sharpe, but McCandless doctors the warrant, smudging the ink, so that it reads that "Sergeant Sharp", rather than "Sharpe" is to be arrested. Over Hakeswill's protests, McCandless orders him back to Seringapatam to get a new warrant. Before Hakeswill complies, however, McCandless confronts Hakeswill about the warrant after realizing that the date of the attack on Morris was after Sharpe had left Seringapatam with him. He warns Hakeswill that he knows he lied about witnessing Sharpe attack Morris, and tells him that he will inform his commander about the deception.
After Assaye, McCandless enters the town with the British troops, is cornered by Hakeswill, and the malevolent sergeant murders him. Sharpe later assumes Dodd had killed his friend and patron.
In the aftermath, it is revealed that McCandless had great faith in Sharpe and had began wheels moving for his promotion before his death.
Personality[]
McCandless is a Scot, a Calvinist, and a workaholic. He toys with the idea of retiring to Scotland, but there is always more work he must do.