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SIR CHARLES JAMES NAPIER (1782-1853)

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 171 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR See also:CHARLES See also:JAMES See also:NAPIER (1782-1853)  , See also:British soldier and statesman, was See also:born at See also:Whitehall, See also:London, in 1782, being the eldest son of See also:Colonel See also:George See also:Napier (a younger son of the fifth See also:lord Napier), and of his wife, the See also:Lady Sarah See also:Lennox who had charmed See also:King George III . After the See also:custom of those times See also:Charles Napier had been gazetted an See also:ensign in the 33rd See also:regiment in 1794, and in 1797 his See also:father secured for him the See also:appointment of aide-de-See also:camp to See also:Sir See also:James See also:Duff, commanding the See also:Limerick See also:district . Longing for more active service, Napier obtained a See also:commission as See also:lieutenant in the 95th Manningham's Rifles (See also:Rifle See also:Brigade) in 1800 . This newly formed See also:corps was designed to See also:supply a See also:body of See also:light troops for the See also:English See also:army See also:fit to See also:cope with the See also:French voltigeurs and tirailleurs, and was specially trained, at first under the See also:eye of Colonel See also:Coote See also:Manning-See also:ham, and then at See also:Shorncliffe under the immediate supervision of Sir See also:John See also:Moore . Moore speedily perceived the military qualities of the Napiers, and inspired the three See also:brothers—Charles of the Rifles, George of the 52nd and See also:William of the 43rd—with an See also:enthusiasm which lasted all their lives; but, though happy in his See also:general, Charles Napier quarrelled bitterly with William See also:Stewart, the lieutenant-colonel, and in 1803 See also:left the regiment to accompany General H . E . See also:Fox to See also:Ireland as aide-de-camp . The See also:great See also:influence of his See also:uncle, the See also:duke of See also:Richmond, and of his See also:cousins, Charles James Fox and the general, procured him in 1804 a captaincy in the See also:staff corps, and in the beginning of i8o6 a See also:majority in the Cape regiment . On his way to the Cape, however, he exchanged into the 50th regiment, with which he served in the See also:short Danish See also:campaign under Lord See also:Cathcart in 1807 . Shortly after his return from See also:Denmark the 5oth was ordered to See also:Portugal, and in command of it Napier shared all the glories of the famous See also:retreat to See also:Corunna . At the See also:battle of Corunna, one of the last See also:sights of Sir John Moore before he See also:fell mortally wounded was the advance of his own old regiment under the command of Charles Napier and See also:Edward See also:Stanhope, and almost his last words were " Well done, my majors!" The 5oth suffered very severely and both the majors were left for dead upon the See also:field . Napier's See also:life was saved by a French drummer named See also:Guibert, who brought him safely to the headquarters of See also:Marshal See also:Soult .

Soult treated him with the greatest kindness, and he was allowed by See also:

Ney to return to See also:England to his " old See also:blind See also:mother " instead of being interned . After about a See also:year he heard that his See also:exchange had been arranged, and, volunteering for the See also:Peninsula, he joined the light See also:division before See also:Ciudad Rodrigo . As a volunteer he served in the actions on the See also:Cos., and again at Busaco, where he was badly wounded in the See also:face . He was ordered to England, but refused to go, and in See also:March 1811, though barely recovered, he hurried to the front to take See also:part in the pursuit of MVIassena . After the battle of Fuentes d'Onor, he received the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 102nd xegiment, which had become entirely demoralized at See also:Botany See also:Bay, and when he joined it at See also:Guernsey in 1811 was one of the worst regiments in the service . When he left it in 1813 it was one of the best . He accompanied it in See also:June 1812 from Guernsey to Bermuda, where he wrought a wonderful See also:change in the spirit both of See also:officers and men . By treating his men as See also:friends he won their love and admiration, and became in a See also:peculiar degree the See also:hero of the British soldiers . After seeing further active service against the See also:United States in See also:September 1813 he exchanged back into the 5oth regiment, and in See also:December 1814, believing all See also:chance of active service to See also:beat an end, went on See also:half-pay . He was gazetted one of the first C.B.'s on the See also:extension of the See also:order of the See also:Bath in 1814, and was See also:present as a volunteer at the See also:capture of Cambray, but he just missed the great battle of See also:Waterloo . Though an officer of some experience and more than See also:thirty years of See also:age, he now entered the military See also:college at See also:Farnham, and completed his military See also:education . In 1819 he was appointed inspecting field officer at See also:Corfu, in 1820 was sent on a See also:mission to See also:Ali See also:Pasha at See also:Iannina, and in 1821 visited See also:Greece, where he became an ardent supporter of the patriot party .

From Corfu he was moved in 1822 to See also:

Cephalonia, where he remained for eight years as See also:governor and military See also:resident . He was the See also:model of an See also:absolute colonial governor, and showed all the qualities of a benevolent See also:despot . He made See also:good roads and founded great institutions, but every-thing must be done by him, and he showed himself averse to interference, whether from the high See also:commissioner of the Ionian Islands, whom it was his See also:duty to obey, or from the feudal magnates of his own little See also:colony, over whom it was his duty to exercise strict supervision . An interesting See also:episode in his command was his communication with Lord See also:Byron when he" touched at Cephalonia on his way to take part in the See also:Greek See also:War of See also:Independence . Byron sent a See also:letter to the Greek See also:committee in London recommending Napier's appointment as See also:commander-in-See also:chief . But after many negotiations the See also:scheme came to nothing . In 1827 Napier, who had two years before been made a colonel in the army, quarrelled with Sir See also:Frederick See also:Adam, the new high commissioner, and in 1830, when Napier was in England on leave, Adam seized his papers and forbade him to return . Napier thereupon, refusing promotion to the residency of See also:Zante, retired in disgust, living for some years in the See also:south of England and, after the See also:death of his wife in 1833, in See also:Normandy . Here he wrote his See also:work on the colonies, and also an See also:historical See also:romance. on William the Conqueror . Another work, entitled Harold, has disappeared . In 1834 he refused the governorship of See also:Australia, still hoping for military employment . In 1837 he was promoted See also:major-general with his See also:brother George, in 1838 he returned to England and was made a K.C.B.; but he was to wait till 1839 before he received an offer of employment .

In that year he was made commanding officer in the See also:

northern district, and found his command no See also:sinecure, owing to the turbulent See also:state of the Chartists in the towns of See also:Yorkshire, See also:Lancashire and the Midlands . His behaviour during the See also:tenure of his command is described by William Napier in his life of his brother, and his inability to hold a command which did not carry supreme authority is plainly portrayed . In this particular instance his sympathies were on the popular See also:side, and, though he maintained See also:law and order with the necessary rigour, he resigned as soon as the crisis had passed, and went to See also:India . He was stationed at See also:Poona, and in September 1842, when troubles were expected there, was ordered to See also:Sind . His command in Sind from 1842 till See also:August 1847 is the See also:period of his life during which, according to his brother, he made good his See also:title to fame, but his acts, more especially at first, have been most severely criticized . There can be little doubt that from the moment he landed in the See also:province he determined to conquer the amirs, and to seek the first opportunity of doing so . He was to be accompanied by James See also:Outram (q.v.), who had been resident in Sind during the Afghan War, and who See also:felt a great admiration for him, but who had also a warm See also:affection for the amirs, and believed that he could put off the See also:day of their destruction . On the 15th of See also:February 1843, Outram was treacherously assailed at See also:Hyderabad, and on the 17th Napier attacked the Baluch army 30,000 strong with but 2800 men . With these 2800 men, including the 22nd regiment, which would do anything for him, he succeeded in winning the brilliant and decisive victory of See also:Meeanee, one of the most amazing in the See also:history of the British army, in which generals had to fight like privates, and Sir Charles himself engaged in the fray . In the March following, after marching without transport in the most intense See also:heat, he finally destroyed the army of the amirs at the battle of Hyderabad . His success was received with enthusiasm both by the governor-general, Lord See also:Ellenborough, and by the English See also:people, and he was at once made a G.C.B . Whether or not the See also:conquest of Sind at that particular period can be justified, there can be no doubt that Charles Napier was the best See also:administrator who could be found for the province when conquered .

Phoenix-squares

Sind, when it came under English See also:

rule, was in a state of utter anarchy, for the Baluchis had formed a military See also:government not unlike that of the Mamelukes in See also:Egypt, which had been extremely tyrannical to the native See also:population . This native population was particularly protected by Sir Charles Napier, who completed the work of the destruction of the Baluch supremacy which he had commenced with the victory of Meeanee . The labour of See also:administration was rendered more difficult by the See also:necessity of repressing the See also:hill tribes, which had been encouraged to acts of lawlessness by the See also:licence which followed the Afghan War . The later years of his administration were made very stormy by the attacks on the policy of the conquest which had been made in England . He left Sind, after quarrelling with every authority of the See also:presidency of Bombay, and nearly every authority of the whole of India, in August 1847, and received a perfect See also:ovation on his return from all the hero-worshippers of the Napiers, of whom,there were many in England . His short stay in England was occupied with incessant struggles with the See also:directors of the See also:East India See also:Company; but the See also:news of the indecisive victory of See also:Chillianwalla created a panic in England, and the East India Company was obliged by public See also:opinion to summon the greatest general of the day to command its armies . Sir Charles started almost at a moment's See also:notice, but on reaching India found that the victory of See also:Gujrat had been won and the See also:Sikh War was over . No taint of envy was in his nature, and he rejoiced that he had not had to supersede Lord See also:Gough in the moment of defeat . His restless and imperious spirit was met by one equally imperious in the governor-general, Lord See also:Dalhousie . The two men were good friends until, in the See also:absence of Dalhousie at See also:sea, Napier took upon himself to alter the regulations regarding the allowances to native troops; the occasion was urgent, as the troops were in a state of See also:mutiny, but on his return Dalhousie reprimanded the commander-in-chief and reversed his decision . Napier immediately handed in his resignation, and when the duke of See also:Wellington supported Lord Dalhousie and repeated the reprimand he returned to England . He had been credited with foreseeing the Mutiny of 18J7, and on the whole with See also:justice .

On one occasion he wrote that mutiny was " one of the greatest, if not the greatest, danger threatening India—a danger that may come unexpectedly, and if the first symptoms be not carefully treated, with a See also:

power to shake Leadenhall." On the mutiny of the 66th native regiment at Govindgarh he disbanded it, and handed its See also:colours over to a See also:Gurkha regiment, thus showing that he distrusted the high-class See also:Brahman, and recognized the necessity of relying upon a more warlike and more disciplined See also:race . His constitution was undermined by the See also:Indian See also:climate, especially by his fatiguing command in Sind, and on the 29th of August 1853 he died at See also:Portsmouth . The See also:bronze statue of him by G . G . See also:Adams, which stands in See also:Trafalgar Square, London, was erected by public subscription, by far the greater number of the subscribers being, as the inscription records, private soldiers . The chief authority for Sir Charles Napier's life is his Life and Opinions by his brother (1857); consult also See also:MacColl, Career and See also:Character of C . J . Napier (1857); M'Dougall, General Sir C . J . Napier, Conqueror and Governor of Scinde (186o); W . N . See also:Bruce, Sir Charles Napier (1855); and T .

R . E . See also:

Holmes, Four Famous Soldiers (1889) . His own See also:works are Memoir on the Roads of Cephalonia (1825) ; The Colonies, treating of their value generally and of the Ionian Islands in particular; Strictures on the Administration of Sir F . See also:Adana (1833); Colonization, particularly in See also:Southern Australia (1835) ; Remarks on Military Law and the See also:Punishment of Flogging (1837); A See also:Dialogue on the Poor See also:Laws (1838?); A Letter on the De-fence of England by Corps of See also:Volunteers and See also:Militia (1852); See also:Lights and Shadows of Military Life (trans. from the French, 184o) ; and A Letter to the Right See also:Honourable Sir J . C . See also:Hobhouse on the Baggage of the Indian Army (1849); Defects, See also:Civil and Military, of the Indian Government (1853); William the Conqueror, a Historical Romance, edited by Sir W . Napier (1858) . On Sind, consult primarily Sir IA' . Napier, The Conquest of Scinde (1845); The Administration of Scinde (1851) ; Compilation of General Orders issued by Sir C . Napier (185o); and Outram, The Conquest of Scinde, a Commentary (1846) . For his command-in-chief, and the controversy about his resignation, consult J .

Mawson, Records of the Indian Command of General Sir C . J . Napier (See also:

Calcutta, 1851); Minutes on the Resignation of the See also:late General Sir C . Napier, by Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, &c . (1854); Comments by Sir W . Napier on a Memorandum of the Duke of Wellington (1854); Sir William Napier, General Sir C . Napier and the Directors of the East India Company (1857) ; Sir W . See also:Lee See also:Warner, Life of Lord Dalhousie (1904) .

End of Article: SIR CHARLES JAMES NAPIER (1782-1853)
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