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Sir Charles Napier (1854).
British admiral. Born 6 March 1786 at Merchiston Hall, Stirlingshire, Scotland, the son of a naval officer, Charles Napier went to sea as a midshipman in 1800. He proved himself an accomplished officer, rose steadily through the ranks, and became a captain in May 1809. On half pay in 1810 he accompanied the British Army in Portugal before resuming active duty the following year by commanding the frigate Eurylaus. Napier acquired further distinction in the Mediterranean theater, and in 1814 he sailed with a convoy to North America during the War of 1812. There he gained additional laurels in an expedition against Alexandria, Virginia. By the end of the Napoléonic Wars in 1815, Napier had reached the rank of post captain.
Napier then engaged in civilian pursuits, including financing the world’s first iron warship in 1821. In January 1829 he returned to active service. In 1831 he became an illegal participant in the Portuguese civil war on behalf of Queen Maria, daughter of Dom Pedro. As admiral of Dom Pedro’s “Liberation Squadron,” he defeated a larger rebel force off Cape St. Vincent on 3 July 1832 and subsequently fought in the reduction of Lisbon and Oporto. Napier returned in triumph to England, although the admiralty censored him for being absent without leave.
After several years of inactivity, Napier rose to commodore and in 1840 returned to the Mediterranean Squadron under Admiral Sir Robert Stopford. The Ottoman Empire was then embroiled in a succession dispute between Turkey and Egypt, and London directed Stopford’s force to intervene on behalf of Constantinople. Napier participated in the captures of Beirut and Acre, although in the last encounter he brazenly defied Stopford’s orders and claimed the victory as his own. Such outlandish behavior caused dissension among subordinates, many of whom in any case credited Stopford with the victory.
Napier rose to rear admiral in November 1846 and vice admiral in May 1853. Celebrated for his quixotic adventures and eccentric disposition, Napier was a popular choice to lead the Baltic Squadron during the initial phase of the 1853–1856 Crimean War and publicly vowed to take the fortified port of Kronstadt or perish. Bluster aside, he proved unable to accomplish much. Heavily criticized in the press, he was relieved. The remainder of his life was consumed by vitriolic publishing matches with his critics. Napier died near Catherington, in Hampshire, England, on 6 November 1860.
References
Napier, Priscilla. Black Charlie: A Life of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B., 1787–1860. Wilby, UK: Michael Russell, 1995.
Williams, H. Noel. The Life and Letters of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B. London: Hutchinson and Co., 1917.
