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 of Multan on 23 Jan. 1849. He was also present at the surrender of the fort and garrison of Cheniote. The troops then joined Lord Gough, and Napier was in time to take part as commanding engineer of the right wing in the battle of Gujrát on 21 Feb. 1849. Napier accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert [q. v.] as civil engineer in his pursuit of the defeated Sikhs and their Afghan allies, and was present at the passage of the Jhelum, the surrender of the Sikh army, and the surprise of Attock. He was mentioned in despatches, received the war medal and two clasps, and was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel 7 June 1849.

At the close of the war Napier was appointed civil engineer to the board of administration of the annexed province of the Punjab, and during the time he occupied the post he carried out a great scheme of important public works, among which was the construction of the high road from Lahore to Peshawar, 275 miles, a great part of it through very difficult country, together with many thousands of miles of byways with dâks; the great Bári-Doab canal, 250 miles long, which transformed a desert into cultivated country, was partly completed; the old Shah Nahr or Hasli canal was repaired and many smaller ones dug; the principal towns were embellished with public buildings; the great salt-mines of Pind Dadur Khan were made more efficient; new cantonments were laid out; the frontier defences were strengthened and connected with advanced posts; bridges were placed in order; and all this was done in a country where the simplest tool as well as the more complicated apparatus had to be manufactured on the spot. The board of administration reported in 1852: ‘For the energetic and able manner in which these important works have been executed, as well as for the zealous co-operation in all engineering and military questions, the board are indebted to Lieutenant-colonel Napier, who has spared neither time, health, nor convenience in the duties entrusted to him.’

In December 1852 Napier commanded the right column in the first Black Mountain Hazara expedition, under Colonel Frederick Mackeson [q. v.], against the Hassmezia tribe. Napier's services were highly commended by government. In November 1853 he was employed in a similar expedition under Colonel S. B. Boileau against the Bori clan of the Jawáki Afridis in the Peshawar district, was mentioned in despatches, and received the special thanks of government and the medal with clasp. On his return to civil work he found the board of administration had ceased to exist, and John Lawrence reigned supreme. Napier's designation was changed to chief engineer, in accordance with the practice in other provinces. He pushed on the works as before; but the outlay made the chief commissioner uneasy, and Lawrence endeavoured to check it. This led to a difference between the two men, and some friction ensued. Each, however, appreciated the other; and some years later Lawrence, in writing to Lord Canning after the mutiny, acknowledged that the large and energetic development of labour, and the expenditure by which it was accompanied under Napier's advice and direction, was one, at least, of the elements which impressed the most manly race in India with the vigour and beneficence of British rule, and tended, through the maintenance of order and active loyalty in the Punjab, to the recovery of Hindustan. Napier was promoted brevet colonel in the army on 28 Nov. 1854, in recognition of his services on the two frontier expeditions, and regimental lieutenant-colonel on 15 April 1856. In the autumn of 1856 he went on furlough to England. On Napier relinquishing the post, Lord Dalhousie wrote in the most flattering terms of the results of his seven years' service at the head of the public works department of the Punjab.

Napier left England again in May 1857, before news had been received of the Indian mutiny, and his intention was to retire after three years' further service. On arrival at Calcutta he was appointed officiating chief engineer of Bengal. When General Sir James Outram [q. v.] returned to India from the campaign in Persia, and was appointed chief commissioner in Oudh and to command the force for the relief of Lucknow, Napier was appointed military secretary and chief of the adjutant-general's department with him. They left Calcutta on 5 Aug. 1857. Sir Henry Havelock [q. v.] was then at Cawnpore at the head of the force intended for the relief of Lucknow, and was awaiting reinforcements before marching. Outram arrived at Cawnpore on 15 Sept., and relinquished the military command to Havelock, accompanying him in his civil capacity, and giving his military services as a volunteer. Napier was engaged in the actions of Mangalwár, Alambagh, and Charbagh. The entry to Lucknow was made on 25 Sept. The rear guard of Havelock's force, with the siege train and the wounded, had, however, become separated from the main body, and was not in sight on the following morning, while the enemy intervened. On the 26th 250 men were sent to their assistance, but could neither help the rear