Page:Imperialdictiona03eadi Brandeis Vol3a.pdf/539

NAP the way in the hazardous ascent and descent of the Potomac; and afterwards distinguished himself in the operations against Alexandria and Baltimore. After remaining fourteen years on half-pay Captain Napier received the command of the Galera, to which he adapted paddle-wheels worked by winches before steam power was applied to ships. While cruising in this vessel at the Azores he became acquainted with the leaders of the constitutional party in Portugal, and recommended himself to the notice of Don Pedro. On the retirement of Admiral Sartorius, he was offered and accepted the command of the Portuguese fleet in 1833; and though both ill-equipped and ill-manned, he obtained a complete victory over the fleet of Don Miguel, which was greatly superior in numbers and weight of metal. By this success he terminated the war, and established Doña Maria on the throne. His brilliant successes were rewarded with the title of Viscount Cape St. Vincent, a pension of £600 a year, the grand cross of all the Portuguese orders, and the rank of admiral-in-chief. His zealous attempts, however, to reorganize the navy and the arsenals were thwarted by official imbecility, and he quitted the Portuguese service in disgust. On the restoration of his name to the British navy list in 1839, he was appointed to the Powerful on the Levant station. When the war broke out between the Porte and Mehemet Ali, Napier was despatched to Beyrout and Djouni, where he formed an army of sailors, marines, and discontented Turks, with which he defeated the Egyptians at Kelbzer, stormed Sidon, and routed Ibraham Pasha at Boharsuf. His eccentric appearance, seated upon a donkey with a large straw-hat upon his head and a formidable bludgeon in his hand, and his dog Pow scampering by his side, excited great merriment among his followers. On the 2nd of November, 1840, Commodore Napier assisted at the siege of Acre with his usual reckless daring; but took up a position which had not been assigned him by his commanding officer. Sir R. Stopford. After the reduction of Acre he took charge of the squadron off Alexandria, where he concluded an advantageous convention with Mehemet Ali. For these distinguished services he received high honours not only from his own government, but from the emperors of Austria and Russia, and the king of Prussia. After his return to England in 1841 he was appointed rear-admiral of the blue, and held for two years the command of the Channel fleet. In 1847 he was a second time appointed to this office, which he held for two years, but was suspended by Sir Francis Baring on account of his imprudent and violent attacks on the naval administration. When war with Russia became imminent. Sir Charles was appointed to the command of the Baltic fleet. The unreasonable impatience of the public, and his own imprudent and braggadocio talk, led to most unreasonable expectations, which were in the end completely disappointed. He captured Bomarsund; but in consequence of the want of gun-boats, he was unable to accomplish anything against Cronstadt or Sweaborg. A public clamour was created against him; he quarreled with Sir James Graham, the first lord of the admiralty, and contrived to place himself in the wrong. He was in consequence dismissed from his command, and was not again appointed to office. Sir Charles was returned to parliament for Marylebone in 1841. He resigned his seat on going to the Baltic; but was returned for Southwark in 1855. He was a frequent speaker in the house, though he never attained to much influence in parliament, and injured himself more than the admiralty by his frequent and violent attacks. He was, however, a true and zealous friend of the seamen and marines, and contributed not a little to the improvement of their condition. He died in November, 1861, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. Sir Charles Napier was a strange medley of naval skill and courage, eccentricity, slovenliness, shrewdness, and imprudence. He was "excitable, vain, choleric, frank, and truthful; fond of fun and frolic; self-confident, full of daring, ambition, energy, and indomitable will." He was the author of a "History of the War of Succession in Portugal;" "Letters on the State of the Navy;" and a "History of the Syrian War." He also furnished materials for Mr. Earp's History of the Baltic Campaign, and was a frequent contributor to the United Service Magazine. His numerous letters to the newspapers were not always characterized by discretion.—(Life and Correspondence of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, by Major-General E. Napier, 2 vols., 1861.)—J. T.  NAPIER,, G.C.B., a celebrated military officer, was the eldest son of the Hon. George Napier, and grandson of Francis, fifth Lord Napier. His mother. Lady Sarah Lennox, daughter of the second duke of Richmond, was the object of a strong attachment on the part of George III., and but for the interposition of his mother would have been queen of England. On his father's side, Charles Napier traced his lineage to the great Montrose, and the still greater Napier of Merchiston, the inventor of logarithms. The blood of Charles II. of England and of Henry IV. of France also flowed in his veins. George Napier was remarkable for his stature, strength, handsome person, and ability. He had been a pupil of Hume the historian, had served in the American war, had subsequently filled a variety of situations, in all of which he had distinguished himself, and ended by becoming comptroller of military accounts in Ireland. His more famous son, Charles, was born on the 10th of August, 1782. His early years were passed in Ireland, where he was educated principally by his father. At the age of twelve he obtained, 31st January, 1794, an ensign's commission in the 22nd regiment of foot, and on the 8th of May following he was gazetted a lieutenant. Four years after, when the Irish rebellion broke out, young Napier saw his first service as aid-de-camp to Sir James Duff. At the close of the year 1800 he became a lieutenant in the 95th or rifle corps, and was quartered in various places in England. The despotism of his commanding officer having rendered the regiment odious to him, Charles Napier was placed on the staff of his cousin, General Fox, who first was commander-in-chief in Ireland, and was next appointed to the London district. In 1804 Charles sustained the irreparable loss of his father, who died at the age of fifty-one. In 1806 he obtained a majority in the 50th; and in the absence of the colonel he commanded this regiment during the advance into Spain, and the retreat to Corunna under Sir John Moore, whom he regarded as "the model soldier of England." He exhibited the most daring courage at the battle of Corunna, where he received five wounds and was taken prisoner. His life was saved by a Frenchman named Guibert, who humanely prevented his comrades from despatching outright the wounded officer. Marshal Ney treated his gallant prisoner with great kindness, procured for him the necessary medical assistance, and upon his recovery released him on condition that he would not serve till he was exchanged. For some months Napier's family believed him dead. At length an English frigate was sent to inquire after him, and Baron Clouet, the aid-de-camp of Ney, carried the message to the marshal. "Let him," was the reply, "see his friends, and tell them he is well treated." "He has an old mother," rejoined Clouet, "a widow, and blind." "Has he?" said the marshal; "let him go then and tell her himself that he is alive." In January, 1810, Napier was restored to his regiment; and a few months later, having obtained leave of absence, he joined the light division in the Peninsula as a volunteer. He fought with desperate valour at the bloody battle of the Coa, and again at Busaco, where he was once more severely wounded, a ball having passed through his nose, shattered his jaw, and lodged near his ear. He was badly treated by the surgeons, and suffered during the remainder of his life from the effects of this wound. In June, 1811, he was elevated to a lieutenant-colonelcy, and so eager was he to resume his place in the field that, with his wound still bandaged, he rode in hot haste from Lisbon to Condeixa, a distance of ninety-two miles, upon the same horse, having halted only once in his wonderful journey. On coming up with the army, which was eagerly pursuing the retreating French under Massena, Napier met two of his brothers being carried to the rear severely, and one of them supposed to be mortally wounded; but without speaking a word to either of them he hastened forward into the fight. After taking part in the hard-fought battle of Fuentes d'Onore and the siege of Badajos, as well as in innumerable skirmishes. Colonel Napier was ordered to leave the Peninsula and take charge of his new regiment, the 102nd, which had returned from New South Wales completely disorganized. In July, 1812, he was sent to Bermuda, to his grievous disappointment. A better post, it has been justly remarked, might have been found for such a man at such a time. Wearied with the dull daily round of drill, he wrote his mother, "My broken jaw did not give me half the pain the life we lead here does." In June, 1813, he was once more summoned to active service, and was employed under Sir John Warren and Sir Sydney Beckwith in ravaging the coasts of America—a kind of warfare which he detested, and denounced as disgraceful to the British name. In the following September he exchanged into his old regiment, the 50th, in order to get back to a nobler contest; but when he reached home he found 