Captain John Vickery

OOC Info
Username/Nickname: Sharpie
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Character: Info
Canon/Original: Original
First Name(s): John Edward
Surname: Vickery
Nicknames:
Age: 24
Sex: Male
Place of Birth: Fallbrooke House, near Andover, Hampshire
Occupation: Officer, 5/60th Rifles
Family: Mother, Dorothea; father, James (the third and current Viscount Saltash). One older brother, Robert, one younger sister, Emma.
Description: Vickery is 5'10", with mid-brown hair and grey eyes. He is 24, but has the confidence of a man older than that. He is slender, with the thin face common in Georgian gentry. He wears the green jacket of the 60th, although the silver lace has tarnished somewhat by now, despite Cotton's efforts to keep it looking smart. He walks and rides with an upright, confident bearing and looks alert.

He enjoys a glass of good wine and intelligent conversation after dinner. He rarely gets so drunk he has to be helped home - such an occurrence has only happened once since his promotion to Captain. He enjoys a good segar or cheroot on occasion.

He has an eye for detail, and is quick-minded, alert and intelligent. He is confident and calm, able to make decisions and stick to them.

He is strict but fair with his men; he won't punish a whole group for one man's mistakes. He will not tolerate insolence or open disrespect, but expects his officers and NCOs to earn the men's respect. He respects those who earn it, whether they are superior or inferior to him, socially or in the Army's rank system, although he does expect his social inferiors to show proper deference. He looks out for those under his command and will back them against outsiders. For him, loyalty works both ways.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
~ He is confident in himself and his abilities.
~ He is a good artist.
~ He loyal to his men, and expects the same loyalty in return
~ He will do his best for his men - he believes loyalty should work both ways.
~ He has only recently been promoted, so he lacks experience in his rank
~ He is a gentleman, with the upbringing of a gentleman and is used to deference, and expects it from those lower down the social scale than him, which may come across as arrogance.
~ He will not tolerate familiarity from his social inferiors.

Background: Captain Vickery has been in the 5/60th for four years, but has only recently been promoted to Captain and given command of his own company. He is strict, but fair, confident in himself. He is a gentleman, the youngest of two sons, with a younger sister. His family are landed gentry from Hampshire. His uncle bought him an Ensigncy in the 45th Regiment, and then his father purchased a Lieutenancy in the 69th, from where he transferred to the 5/60th in 1805, a few months before Trafalgar.

He trained with the 60th at their depot on the Isle of Wight, finding it strange that an officer should be expected to drill alongside the men. He understood the reasons for it, and grasped the drill quickly, moving on to learning to load and fire a rifle, something else he found strange and innovative. His three months it the training depot taught him the Rifles' usefulness and capabilities, giving him first-hand experience of life in the ranks at the same time, something he found it hard to adjust to at first, even though he did not live in the same room as the men. It has given him a deeper appreciation of life as a private soldier, which in turn means he respects them.

He is an adequate shot with a rifle, though by no means as skilled and keen-eyed as some of his men, finding that his talents lie in leading men and giving orders, rather than being in the line receiving them.

He saw action as a Lieutenant with the 60th at Rolica and Vimeiro in the summer of 1808, and has recently been promoted to Captain, a promotion that came by merit and not money, although his family is rich enough to purchase promotion for him. He is a good Rifles officer, intelligent, quick to grasp a situation and take advantage of it. He has found his niche in the Army and is keen to prove that the Rifles are worthy of their place in the Army.

Anything Else: PB: Gaspard Ulliel.
Writing Sample/Past Roleplay:
"You'd best stay here, sir, while my lads go forward and see what's been happening." It wasn't that Vickery thought Edrington couldn't be trusted; he just didn't want to risk the Colonel in case the French were closer than appearance led them to assume. And there was Sharpe with Rifleman Newbury... and closer to the new arrivals, it seemed they had a French prisoner.

"Right, Brady, take the lads forward and make sure the French really are gone. I need to speak with Newbury, and the Colonel would probably like to have a word with the Frenchman Sharpe's men appear to be holding."

The Lieutenant saluted and pulled out his whistle. The Company split into the skirmish chain of pairs working with each other, each man covering his mate as he moved, although there was no firing - no need for it just yet, with the French still out of sight.

The French were definitely leaving them, which could only be a good thing. Sergeant Fischer, on hearing whistles other than his own had brought his small group of men back to the main body of the Company - all apart from one. Mirbach had darted forward, and was coming back up the hill, his rifle at the trail, but another one slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a look of triumph on his face.

Vickery received Fischer's report, looked pleased at recovering Newbury's rifle, and turned to his bugler. "Close order, please."

Joe Cavender grinned and raised his bugle, summoning the Rifles back into close order from their spread out skirmish chain. Vickery would keep them here until he could be absolutely sure the French had indeed left them, and weren't going to return in greater numbers.

Vickery himself, however, had more pressing business with his forward scout, who had slipped back down the hill to where Colonel Edrington and one of Sharpe's men were talking to a young French grenadier, obviously a prisoner. They had been joined by another redcoat, and Vickery frowned. What was Sir Arthur Wellesley doing this far forward?

"Sir," he said, saluting. "My lord. The French are in retreat, but I am keeping my men ready in case they manage to find themselves some reinforcements."
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