Sharpe's Trafalgar

Sharpe's Trafalgar is the fourth novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. This is the first of the novels in the wars against Napoleon. It puts the army ensign at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Sharpe heads back to England, where he will join a newly formed regiment, the 95th Rifles. Traveling aboard Captain Peculiar Cromwell's East Indiaman, Calliope, is the lovely Lady Grace Hale. Her presence intrigues and distracts from what promises to be an otherwise uneventful voyage home.But Calliope is captured by a formidable French warship, Revenant. This French warship has been terrorizing British nautical traffic in the Indian Ocean. She races toward the safety of its own fleet, carrying a stolen treaty that, if delivered, could provoke India into a new war against the British. But help comes from an unexpected quarter. Sharpe's friend, Joel Chase, a captain in the Royal Navy, is on the trail of the Revenant. Sharpe comes aboard his 74-gun man-of-war, Pucelle along with Lady Grace and her husband.Pucelle follows the French fugitive to a place called Trafalger. What follows is one of the most ferocious sea battles in European history, in which Nelson (and Sharpe) vanquish the combined naval might of France and Spain at Trafalgar.
Cornwell's narration of this epic sea-battle is masterly and well-researched. He outdoes himself with this riveting novel delivering action, adventure, and a great gallery of villains and heroes, plus the usual beautiful lady. Highly recommended.