Hector Ross

Major-General Hector Ross is a major character in the fourth season of the Sharpe television series and the opening episode of the fifth.
He was portrayed by the late .
==Biography==
Major-General Ross was a senior British officer in the Peninsular War, an intelligence officer and adviser to Field Marshal Wellington. He was acquainted with Major Richard Sharpe and informed him that his request for reinforcements from England had been turned down. He gave Sharpe and Patrick Harper authorisation to return to England to search for recruits. He gave Sharpe's wife Jane away at their wedding but was struck with fever afterwards, although he later recovered.
Ross' most active role was when he accompanied Sharpe and Colonel Brand on a mission to destroy General Calvet's powder magazine and gather intelligence. He recruited his old friend Major Septimus Pyecroft as an explosives expert; Pyecroft had a scarred face from when an explosive detonated prematurely and blamed Ross for cutting the fuses too short. Sharpe quickly deduced the truth of the mission: Ross and Wellington suspected Brand of being a French agent and wanted to expose him. Despite arresting Brand and his men, Sharpe insisted on going ahead with the mission to the powder magazine. Ross personally helped fight off an attempt to recapture the fort where the magazine was by French troops led by Brand's handler Colonel Cressan. After the mission was successfully completed, Pyecroft asked Ross to be his best man when he married a gypsy girl, Zara, and admitted the mistake with the fuses may have been his.
Ross was later given command of a brigade at the Battle of Toulouse, with Sharpe serving under him. He was ordered to let Colonel Wigram lead the first assault, but when they were beaten back, Ross was given his chance. He was wounded during the assault, leaving Sharpe to take command, but survived. He later informed Sharpe the war was over, and waited until after Sharpe had fought a pistol duel with Wigram and only wounded him before telling him Jane had left him and gone to England.
==Trivia==
* The character of Ross was created for the television series, taking on roles given to Michael Hogan or Nairn in the novels. Ironically, Ross replaced both characters in the adaptations of the novels where they died, but survived in both cases.
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