Admiral Sir Charles (John) Napier KCB RN (6 March 1786 – 6 November 1860) was a British naval officer whose sixty years in the Royal Navy included service in the Napoleonic Wars, Syrian War and the Crimean War, and a period commanding the Portuguese navy in the Liberal Wars. Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks of the highest Naval officers The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a British Order of chivalry founded by George The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1786 ( MDCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting An officer is a member of an armed force who holds a position of authority The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions For the wars fought between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC see Syrian Wars. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists An innovator concerned with the development of iron ships, and an advocate of humane reform in the Royal Navy, he was also active in politics as a Liberal Member of Parliament and was probably the naval officer most widely known to the public in the early Victorian Era. The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament.
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Napoleonic service
Napier was the second son of Captain the Hon. Charles Napier, RN, and grandson of Francis, 6th Lord Napier; he was thus a direct descendant of the great mathematician John Napier. For other people with the same name see John Napier (disambiguation. He was born at Merchiston Hall, near Falkirk, on 6 March 1786, and educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh. Falkirk is also the name of the Scottish council area centred on the town see Falkirk (council area. Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1786 ( MDCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Royal High School (RHS of Edinburgh can trace its roots back to 1128 and is one of the oldest schools in Scotland. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. He became a midshipman in 1800; and served aboard HMS Renown, flagship of Sir John Borlase Warren, and later aboard the frigate Greyhound under Captain William Hoste. For the fish called midshipman see Midshipman fish. The rank of midshipman is one of the oldest ranks still in existence Renown in fiction In the Horatio Hornblower novels of C S Forester, a ship of the line named the Renown (unrelated to the historical Sir John Borlase Warren 1st Baronet ( 2 September, 1753 &ndash 27 February 1822) was an English Admiral, politician Captain Sir William Hoste 1st Baronet KCB RN ( 26 August 1780 - 6 December 1828) Royal Navy captain He was promoted lieutenant in 1805. Lieutenant (abbreviated Lt or Lieut) is a Military, Naval, Paramilitary, Fire service, Emergency medical services He was appointed to Courageux (74), and was present in her in the West Indies at the action in which the squadron under Admiral Warren took the French Marengo (80) and Belle Poule (40), on 13 March 1806. Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. Year 1806 ( MDCCCVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common After returning home with Warren, he returned to the West Indies in St George and was appointed acting commander of the brig Pultusk of 16 guns, formerly the French privateer Austerlitz. The Caribbean (ˌkærəˡbiən kæ'rəbiən Cariben|Caraïben or Caraïben; Caraïbe or more commonly Antilles; Caribe is a Region consisting A privateer was a private Warship authorized by a country's Government by Letters of marque to attack foreign shipping In August 1808 he became captain of the brig-sloop Recruit (18), and in her fought a hot action off Antigua with the French sloop Diligente (18), in which his thigh was smashed by a cannon-ball. Antigua (ænˈtiːgə an-TEE-gah) is an Island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region the main
In April 1809 Napier took part in the capture of Martinique, and subsequently distinguished himself in the pursuit of three escaping French ships of the line, handling the small Recruit so well that their flagship, the D'Hautpoult (74), was captured, and as a result was promoted acting post captain. Martinique is an Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1128 km² Post-Captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. His rank was confirmed, but he was put on half-pay, when he came home as temporary captain of HMS Jason escorting a convoy. A convoy is a group of Vehicles (of any type but usually motor vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support He spent some time at the University of Edinburgh, and then went to Portugal to visit his three cousins, (all colonels serving in Wellington's army, and one of whom was Charles James Napier, the future conqueror of Sind). The University of Edinburgh (Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann founded in 1582 is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Colonel ( RP ˈkɜnəl GA ˈkɜrnəl is a Military rank of a Commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, KP, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS ( c For the naval officer of the same name see Charles Napier General Sir Charles James Napier GCB ( August 10 Sindh ( Sindhī: سنڌ Urdu: سندھ is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. He took part in the Battle of Buçaco, during which he saved his cousin Charles's life and was himself wounded. The Battle of Bussaco (or Buçaco, buˈsaku in Portuguese ( September 27, 1810) resulted in the defeat of French forces by Lord Wellington's In 1811, he was appointed captain of the frigate Thames and served in the Mediterranean, disrupting enemy shipping. Among his principal exploits was the capture of the island of Ponza, which was a haven for corsairs. For the commune on this island see Ponza (commune. Ponza (Italian Isola Di Ponza) is the largest of the Italian Pontine Islands In 1813 he moved to command the frigate HMS Euryalus (36), operating mainly off the French and Spanish Mediterranean coast. Battle of Trafalgar The Euryalus was built at Bucklers Hard and launched in 1803
American War and the 'Hundred Days'
After the surrender of Napoleon in 1814 Napier and his ship were transferred to the coast of America, where the War of 1812 was still in progress. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies He took part in the expedition up the Potomac to Alexandria, as second in command to Captain James Alexander Gordon. The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid- Atlantic coast of the United States. Alexandria is an Independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, KCB, RN ( 6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a The British squadron took 10 days to travel 50 miles (80 km) upriver, with many strandings and damage from a tornado, but on 28 August 1814 after bombardment they captured Fort Washington; the town of Alexandria capitulated and the shipping there was seized. Events 475 - The Roman General Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his Capital Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common See also Fort Washington (New York Fort Washington, located near Fort Washington Maryland, was for many decades the only defensive Fort The squadron successfully withdrew downriver with their prizes despite American attacks from the shore. During this withdrawal Napier was wounded in the neck.
He next distinguished himself in the attack on the city of Baltimore by a British army and 16 warships, 12–14 September 1814, under Admiral Cochrane. Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1814 ( MDCCCXIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Admiral of the White Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN ( April 23, 1758 &ndash January 26, 1832 Euryalus was involved in the bombardment of Fort McHenry that began early in the morning of the 13th. Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Maryland, is a star shaped fort best known The critical period of the attack developed shortly after midnight when a picked British force in longboats under Napier’s command penetrated the branch of the river to the west of the fort with the intention of storming it from the flank. The Patapsco is a River in central Maryland which flows into the Chesapeake Bay in Baltimore Maryland. Before they could land, however, they were detected and subjected to a withering fire from the guns of Fort McHenry and two smaller forts. The British fought back strongly with cannon and rockets. (Watching the battle from a safe distance, Francis Scott Key was inspired to compose 'The Star-Spangled Banner’. Francis Scott Key ( August 1, 1779 &ndash January 11, 1843) was an American Lawyer, author and amateur " The Star-Spangled Banner " is the National anthem of the United States of America ) Eventually American fire power prevailed; Napier was compelled to retire to the warships, and Cochrane’s fleet withdrew on the morning of the 14th.
Euryalus proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia for refit and then took part in the ongoing blockade of the eastern seaboard of the USA. The City of Halifax (est 1841 is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County Bored by such duties, Napier issued a challenge to the American frigate Constellation, which was lying at Norfolk, Virginia, to come out and fight a single-ship duel. Construction On 27 March 1794, the United States Congress passed the Naval Act of 1794 which provided for building the US Navy its first new Norfolk is an Independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States The challenge was accepted and due arrangements were made ‘in the most gentlemanly fashion’, but Euryalus was made part of the squadron that Admiral Cochrane took to Florida and Louisiana in December 1814 in the operations that climaxed in the Battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815, and before she could return to fulfil her engagement with Constellation news of the peace treaty of Ghent reached the USA. The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815, and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats a Danish invasion army Year 1815 ( MDCCCXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Treaty of Ghent ( signed on December 24 1814, in Ghent, currently in Belgium, was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812
With Napoleon's escape from Elba and brief return to power, (the 'Hundred Days'), Euryalus returned to Britain. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Elba (Ilva is an island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The Hundred Days was the period between Napoleon Bonaparte 's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the restoration Napier's last mission of the Napoleonic wars was to land troops at the mouth of the River Scheldt to guard against the French advance into Belgium. The Scheldt (Dutch Schelde, French Escaut, Latin Scaldis) is a 350 km[http //www
Marriage and family
At the end of the war Napier married Frances Elers, née Younghusband, whom he had known and loved in Edinburgh while still a teenager. She had married and been widowed in the meantime, and had four sons whom Napier adopted as his own. Of these the eldest, Charles Elers Napier, became a naval officer and the second, Edward Elers Napier, entered the army, rising to the rank of Major-General: he also wrote books of travel and reminiscence, as well as the authoritative biography of his stepfather. Major General or Major-General is a Military rank used in many countries Frances also gave Napier two children of his own, a son born in Rome and a daughter born by Lake Geneva. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Lake Geneva or Lake Léman (Lac Léman Léman Lac de Genève is the second largest freshwater Lake in Central Europe in terms of surface area (after The son, Charles, died as a result of an accident aged five. The first years of his leisure Napier spent in Italy, Switzerland (where he briefly took up farming), and in Paris. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city He had inherited considerable wealth from his mother's side of the family and spent it freely.
Steam and Iron
During these years Napier began a voluminous and indefatigable correspondence with the Admiralty on the urgency for naval reform, which lasted for the rest of his career. He sought to persuade successive civil administrations of the need for innovative ship-design and tactics, the development of steam ships and the use of iron in ship construction, the proper training of officers, and decent living conditions for ordinary seamen. He held that the use of the press gang and of flogging should be abolished, and that seamen should receive proper wages and pensions. Impressment (colloquially " the Press " or " press-ganging " is the act of conscripting people to serve in the military or navy usually Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip" the human body In all this he was far ahead of his time. His advocacy had little effect: on the contrary, successive administrators considered him an eccentric nuisance. He had been interested in steam navigation since its beginnings, and began investing his considerable resources in a steam vessel service that would ply along the River Seine. The Seine (sɛn in French) is a slow flowing major River and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie In 1821 he financed and participated in the construction of one of the first iron-hulled vessels ever built, and the first designed to venture into open water. The Aaron Manby was named after the master of the Horseley Ironworks, Tipton, Staffordshire, where she was pre-fabricated to a design formulated by Napier, Manby and Manby’s son Charles and then assembled at Rotherhithe on the Thames. Aaron Manby was a landmark vessel in the science of Shipbuilding. The Horseley Ironworks (sometimes spelled Horsley and Iron Works) was a major Ironworks in the Tipton area in the county of Staffordshire Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47000 Staffordshire (abbreviated Staffs) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. Rotherhithe is a district of central south-east London in the London Borough of Southwark. After trials in May 1822, the Aaron Manby crossed the English Channel to Le Havre under Napier’s command on June 10, 1822, and proceeded up the Seine to Paris, where she caused a great stir and where she was based for the next decade. Le Havre is a city in the northwest region of France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it outlets into the Bay of the Seine Events 1190 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River while leading an army to Jerusalem Year 1822 (MDCCCXXII was a Common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Sunday of the This has been claimed as the first passage from France to Britain by steam ship, which it was not: but it was the first direct passage from London to Paris by steam ship and the first seagoing voyage by an iron ship anywhere. Napier’s company built five similar steamships but in 1827 he went bankrupt, leaving the family in severe financial difficulty. (Sold off, the ships gave 30 years further service. )
Portugal
At the beginning of 1829 he was appointed to command the frigate Galatea (42), and was given permission to fit her with paddles of his own design, worked by winches on the main deck, and carried out trials with them that successfully proved that ships could travel independently of the wind. This innovation was not adopted by the Admiralty. At the start of Portugal's Liberal Wars in 1832 Napier was at the Azores, which were the only part of Portuguese territory still held for Queen Maria II of Portugal against the usurpation of her uncle, the absolutist Dom Miguel. The Liberal Wars, also known as the Portuguese Civil War, the War of the Two Brothers, or Miguelite War, was a war between progressive constitutionalists The Azores ( Açores ɐˈsoɾɨʃ or) is a Portuguese Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1500 km (950 mi) from Maria II ( April 4, 1819 &ndash November 15, 1853) was Queen of Portugal from 1826 to 1853 Miguel I ( Miguel Maria do Patrocínio João Carlos Francisco de Assis Xavier de Paula Pedro de Alcântara António Rafael Gabriel Joaquim José Gonzaga Evaristo de Bragança e He so much impressed the constitutional leaders, especially the Count de Vila Flor (better known by his later title of Duke of Terceira), that they begged him to take command of their small fleet. Dom António José de Sousa Manoel e Meneses Severim de Noronha ( March 18th, 1792 - April 26th, 1860) 7th Count of Vila Flor He accepted in February 1833 after Galatea was paid off. Sailing to Portugal with troop reinforcements and using the incognito of 'Carlos da Ponza', he arrived in Oporto, where Queen Maria's father Dom Pedro, ex-Emperor of Brazil, and the Liberal forces were being besieged by Miguel's armies. Dom Pedro ( Lord Peter) is the traditional Portuguese appellation of several kings of Portugal: Peter I of Portugal He assumed command of the Liberal fleet, succeeding its previous British commander George Rose Sartorius. Sir George Rose Sartorius, born 1790 died Lymington, 13 April 1885 was a highly successful British naval officer who also commanded the navy of Dom Pedro in the With it he then transported the Liberal army to the Algarve to open a second front in the south of the country, and on his return voyage destroyed the much larger Miguelite fleet in the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 5 July 1833. Miguel I ( Miguel Maria do Patrocínio João Carlos Francisco de Assis Xavier de Paula Pedro de Alcântara António Rafael Gabriel Joaquim José Gonzaga Evaristo de Bragança e The fourth Battle of Cape St Vincent was fought on 5 July 1833 and was a decisive encounter in Portugal's Liberal Wars. Events 1295 - Scotland and France form an alliance the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England. Year 1833 ( MDCCCXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common These two strokes enabled the Liberals to capture Lisbon, which was abandoned by the Miguelites, though Napier's squadron was now ravaged by cholera. Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. On the demand of France he was struck off the English navy list. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. On the other hand Dom Pedro appointed him Admiral of the Portuguese Navy on 10 July; and his victory, with a fleet largely manned by British seamen, was viewed in Britain as a credit to the Royal Navy, though it greatly annoyed King William IV, who disliked both Napier and Dom Pedro. William IV (William Henry 21 August 1765 &ndash 20 June 1837 was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until Continuing his Portuguese services, he commanded land forces in the successful defence of Lisbon, September 1833, when he was made Grand Commander of the Tower and Sword, and Count of the Cape of Saint Vincent in the Peerage of Portugal. The Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword of Valour Loyalty and Merit ((previously Real) Ordem Militar da Torre e Espada do Valor Lealdade e Mérito, also In 1834, with a small army made up largely of British sailors, he reconquered the Minho region for the constitutional cause. After the final defeat of Miguel and the death of Dom Pedro shortly afterwards, Napier found himself frustrated in his attempts to reform the naval administration of Portugal and returned to England. His departure was followed by a vote of thanks to him in both houses of the restored Portuguese parliament. He occupied himself until 1836 with writing a history of the Portuguese War and his own part in it.
Syria
Though he published his An Account of the War in Portugal as 'Admiral Charles Napier', he was only an Admiral as far as Portugal was concerned. He was restored to his former rank of Captain in the Royal Navy in 1836, and in 1838 received command of the ship of the line HMS Powerful (84). A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century to take part in the the naval tactic known as the Line of battle When troubles broke out in Syria and Mehmet Ali, ruler of Egypt, invaded it and destroyed a Turkish army, he was ordered to the Mediterranean, but there followed a lull of about a year. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Mehmet Ali may refer to Mehmet (Muhammad Ali (1769–1849 viceroy of Egypt Mehemed Emin Aali Pasha (1815–1871 Turkish statesman In the summer of 1840 the Maronite Christians of Lebanon rose in revolt against the occupying Egyptians and Mehmet Ali in retaliation sent Ibrahim Pasha with 15,000 troops to burn towns and villages along the Lebanese coast. Maronites ( الموارنة,, Syriac: ܡܪܘܢܝܐ, Latin: Ecclesia Maronitarum) are members of one of the Syriac Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية By 1 July 1840 Napier, with a detached squadron and the rank of Commodore, was patrolling the coast to protect British interests. "July 1st" redirects here For the Ayumi Hamasaki song see H (song. Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Commodore is a Military rank used in many navies for officers whose position exceeds that of a navy captain, but is less than Though in August he appeared off Beirut and called upon Suleiman Pasha, Mehmet’s governor, to abandon the town and leave Syria, there was little he could do until September, when he was joined by the allied fleet under Admiral Robert Stopford: mainly British, but also including Turkish and Austrian warships. Beirut (بيروت Bayrūt) is the Capital and Largest city of Lebanon with a population of over 2 Suleiman Pasha (born Joseph Anthelme Sève, also known as Süleyman Paşa, Soliman Al Fransawi Pasha, or Colonel Sève; May or July 1788 - Admiral Sir Robert Stopford GCB, GCMG ( 5 February 1768 – 25 June 1847) was a distinguished officer in the Open war broke out on 11 September. Due to the illness of the army commander, Brigadier-General Sir Charles Smith, Napier was instructed to lead the land force, and effected a landing at Junieh with 1,500 Turks and Marines to operate against Ibrahim, who was prevented by the revolt from doing more than trying to hold the coastal cities. Charles or Charlie Smith may refer to Basketball Charles Cornelius Smith (born 1975 University of New Mexico and Portland Trail Blazers Meanwhile Stopford, claiming his flag of truce had been fired on, bombarded Beirut, killing many civilians. Napier next distinguished himself by leading an attack by land and sea on Sidon, the Egyptian army’s southern base, which capitulated on 28 September. Sidon,or Saïda, ( Arabic ar صيدا; Phoenician phoenician yodh Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.
The Egyptians abandoned Beirut on 3 October. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's While preparing to attack them at Nahr-el-Kelb, Napier was ordered to relinquish command of the army to withdraw and hand over the land forces to the now recovered Brigadier-General Smith. The Nahr al-Kalb (نهر الكلب (Rendered in English Al-Kalb River, but translated Dog River) is a River in Lebanon. To do so would have meant giving up the tactical initiative, and Napier accordingly disobeyed the order and continued with the attack against Ibrahim’s army. The ensuing Battle of Nahr-el-Kelb, or Kelbson, on 10 October, was a hard-fought victory, one of the very few land battles won by a naval officer. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated By the end of the month the only coastal position still held by the Egyptians was Acre, which Stopford was instructed to recapture. The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U On 3 November the Mediterranean Fleet, with its Turkish and Austrian allies, moved into position against the western and southern sides of the town. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. The fire of the ships (48,000 rounds in all) was devastatingly accurate. A shell penetrated the main magazine in the south of the city, which exploded killing 1,100 men. That night Acre was occupied. British losses were only 18 men killed and 41 wounded. During the action, Napier had manouvred independently against Stopford’s orders and his division, by accident and mutual misunderstandings, left a space in the fleet’s deployment, not that this affected the outcome. Some captains wanted Napier to be court-martialled for insubordination, but Stopford did not push the issue.
The rapid collapse of Mehmet Ali’s power, with the prospect of bloody chaos in Egypt, was not part of the Allies’ plan, and Stopford sent Napier to command the squadron at Alexandria and to observe the situation. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια Here, acting once again on his own initiative, he appeared before the city on 25 November and enforced a blockade. Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the Then without reference to his Admiral or the British government he personally negotiated a peace with Mehmet Ali, guaranteeing him and his heirs the sovereignty of Egypt, and pledging to evacuate Ibrahim’s beleauguered army back to Alexandria, if Mehmet in turn renounced all claims to Syria, submitted to the Sultan and returned the Ottoman fleet. 'I do not know if I have done right in settling the eastern question', Napier wrote to Lord Minto, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy. Stopford repudiated the arrangement immediately when he had heard the news, the Sultan and the British ambassador were furious, and several of the Allied powers declared it void. Nevertheless the formal treaty later concluded and confirmed on 27 November was essentially a ratification of Napier’s original, and he was congratulated by his friend Lord Palmerston. "Lord Palmerston" and "Henry Temple" redirect here (Mehemet’s last heir, King Farouk, was still ruling Egypt in 1952. Farouk I of Egypt ( Arabic: فاروق الأول Fārūq al-Awwal) (February 11 1920 &ndash March 18 1965 was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad )
Parliament and Channel Fleet
In acknowledgement of his distinguished services during the campaign Napier was knighted on 4 December 1840, and was also included in the vote of thanks by the Houses of Parliament. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a British Order of chivalry founded by George "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1840 ( MDCCCXL) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year He was also presented by the Emperors of Russia and Austria and the King of Prussia with the Order of St. George of Russia; the Order of Maria Theresa of Austria; and the Red Eagle of Prussia. the "Order of Saint George" was also a Chivalric order founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325. The Military Order of Maria Theresa ( Militär-Maria-Theresien-Orden in German) was an Order (decoration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire The Order of the Red Eagle (Roter-Adler-Orden was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. In January 1841, Napier he carried out a special mission to Alexandria and Cairo to see that the treaty was being adhered to before returning to Britain in March. Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. He was invited to stand as Parliamentary candidate in two constituencies and so at his own request was placed on half pay. He was returned as Liberal Party MP for Marylebone at the 1841 general election. The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s and a third party Marylebone was a two seat Constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom created under the Reform Act 1832 Results |} Total votes 593445 Voting summary Seats summary He spoke mainly on naval topics, especially conditions for seamen and increasing the strength of the navy. In November, 1841, he was appointed Naval Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland He subsequently wrote and published War in Syria, his personal account of the campaign. On 4 December 1845 he was invested with the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common
Napier continued to be interested in warship design and was responsible for the design of the paddle-frigate HMS Sidon launched in May 1846. In the same year he lost his parliamentary seat but was promoted Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 9 November. Please see “ Admiral ” for other nations which use this rank In May 1847 he was appointed to the command of the Channel Fleet, hoisting his flag in HMS St Vincent (120). The Channel Fleet is the historical name used for the group of Royal Navy Warships that defended the waters of the English Channel. By this time he was perhaps the naval personality most famous to the general public: his level of everyday name-recognition is shown by the passing allusion in William Makepeace Thackeray's famous humorous ballad Little Billee ("the British fleet a-riding at anchor / with Admiral Napier, K. William Makepeace Thackeray (ˈθækərɪ 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863 was an English Novelist of the 19th century C. B. ").
The Channel Fleet was sometimes a sinecure, but this was by no means the case during Napier’s period of command. The fleet’s area of operations was not just the English Channel but more or less throughout what in the 20th century would be called the Western Approaches. For the museum of this name at the former World War II command centre see Western Approaches Command The Western Approaches is a rectangular Portugal was in the closing stages of its ‘little’ civil war, the Patuleia, and British interests in that country needed protecting. The Patuleia, Guerra da Patuleia, or Little Civil War was a Civil war in Portugal, so called to distinguish it from the 'great' civil war between Ireland, in the aftermath of the Potato Famine, was feared to be near insurrection. Moreover there were considerations of experiment and training with new ships, made necessary by the rapid technological advances such as screw propulsion. A propeller is essentially a type of fan which transmits power by converting Rotational motion into Thrust for propulsion of a vehicle such as an During 1848, the fleet was mainly off the coast of Ireland, where the political situation dictated that Napier show the flag and train for the eventuality of transporting and landing soldiers on practically any part of the Irish coast. In December he took the Channel Fleet further than it had ever operated before, when it was sent to Gibraltar and then onto the Moroccan coast, with the purpose of curbing the activities of Riff pirates. Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar In Music, a riff is an Ostinato figure a repeated Chord progression, pattern refrain or melodic figure, often played by the Rhythm He compelled the Emperor of Morocco, Muley Abderrahman, to grant compensation for the injuries he had inflicted on British commerce. Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa
Napier returned to Britain in April 1849 and was ordered to strike his flag. His disappointment that his expected three years term had been cut short led to bitter letters to The Times criticising the Admiralty’s policy. When he applied for the vacant Mediterranean command, the Government and Admiralty agreed that he could not be trusted and he was rejected, Rear-Admiral Sir James Dundas being appointed instead. Sir James Whitley Deans Dundas GCB ( 4 December 1785 &ndash 3 October 1862) was a British admiral and a First Sea Lord. This led Napier to write more angry letters to the newspapers and directly to Lord John Russell claiming that he had been defrauded of his just rights. John Russell 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC (18 August 1792 &ndash 28 May 1878 known as Lord John Russell before 1861 was an English He unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat for the Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Lambeth district of South London. On 28 May 1853 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral of the Blue. Vice Admiral is a naval rank equivalent to Lieutenant General in seniority
Baltic Campaign
On the outbreak of the Russian War, better known as the Crimean War, he received the command of the largest fleet which the Royal Navy had assembled since the Napoleonic Wars, destined to act in the Baltic Sea. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought The Baltic Sea is a Brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N Latitude and from 20°E to 26°E Longitude. This was not without misgivings on the part of the Admiralty, but he was the most senior and experienced officer available. Napier hoisted his flag in February 1854 in the steam ship of the line HMS Duke of Wellington (131), his subordinate commanders being the Rear-Admirals Arthur Lowry Corry, second in command, Henry Ducie Chads, third in command, and James Hanway Plumridge, commanding the scouting forces. A ship-of-the-line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th century through the mid-19th century to take part in the the naval tactic known as the Line of battle History She was the first of a class of four that represented the ultimate development of the wooden three-decker ship of the line which had been the mainstay Capital ship Henry Ducie Chads (1788-1868 an officer in the British Royal Navy who saw action from the Napoleonic Wars to the Crimean War He entered the Royal James Hanway Plumridge (c 1788 &ndash 29 November 1863) was a British naval officer whose career extended from Trafalgar to the Crimean War They were all elderly men, at most a year or so younger than Napier himself. Napier's force, which was augmented in June by a French fleet sent by Napoleon III, though impressive on paper, was radically unsuited to operations in the Baltic and he was hampered by contradictory sets of orders from the Admiralty. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President Nevertheless he successfully blockaded all the Russian ports, sufficiently overawed the Russian Baltic Fleet that it never stirred from its moorings, and carried out many bombardment operations as far as the northernmost point of the Gulf of Finland. The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - (Дважды Краснознамённый Балтийский флот was the Imperial later Soviet and is now the Russian Navy's The Gulf of Finland ( Finnish: Suomenlahti, Russian: Финский залив, Finskiy zaliv, Swedish: Finska viken During the campaign the first ever Victoria Cross was won by a Midshipman of the gunboat HMS Hecla who threw a Russian explosive shell overboard before it could detonate. See below the section "Separate Commonwealth awards" Note that since Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hecla, after the volcano Hekla in Iceland. During the campaign Rear-Admiral Corry was invalided home because of poor health; he was replaced by Commodore (later Rear-Admiral) Henry Byam Martin. The major success of the campaign was the capture and destruction, in a near-perfect combined operation by French and British soldiers and sailors, of the Russian fortress of Bomarsund on the Aland Islands, which were temporarily liberated from Russian rule and which Napier offered to Sweden (they were declined). But he refused to attack the great naval bases at Sveaborg (often misquoted as the "Gibraltar of the north") and Kronstadt, which observation had established were probably impregnable without shallow-draught bomb vessels which he did not have; and a great outcry (led by the Times newspaper) was raised against him for his apparent lack of determination. Suomenlinna, until 1918 Viapori, ( Finnish) or Sveaborg ( Swedish) is an inhabited sea fortress built on six islands today within Gibraltar (dʒɨˈbrɒltər is a British overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar Kronstadt (Кроншта́дт also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt (Krone for Crown and Stadt for City) is a Russian (His inaction was thoroughly justified by the sequel: in 1855 a better-equipped Anglo-French fleet did bombard Sveaborg, but despite an enormous expenditure of ammunition caused the fortress only trifling structural damage. ) Napier felt he was continually being second-guessed by the Admiralty, and especially by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir James Graham. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy. Sir James Robert George Graham 2nd Baronet ( 1 June 1792 &ndash 25 October 1861) was a British Statesman. In fact the Naval Lords were reacting to adverse press coverage and unwilling to accept the assessment of the commander on the spot, and relations between them deteriorated as his ships maintained the blockade in atrocious weather, quite unable to storm or destroy impregnable Russian fortresses into the bargain. Never one to mince his words or submit to what he felt to be unmerited criticism, Napier's 'disrespectful' tone in his despatches, which the Admiralty complained of, sealed his professional fate.
Retirement
On his return in December 1854 he was ordered to haul down his flag and informed his command was terminated, the fleet being given for the campaign of 1855 to Admiral the Hon. Richard Saunders Dundas, the Second Sea Lord. Vice Admiral Sir Richard Saunders Dundas, KCB ( 11 April 1802 – 3 June 1861) was a British naval officer and was the The Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command ( 2SL/CNH) commonly just known as the Second Sea Lord ( 2SL) is one of the most senior (None of the flag officers of the 1854 campaign was allowed to return to the Baltic in 1855, but Sir Michael Seymour, Napier's Captain of the Fleet, was promoted to Rear-Admiral and was made second-in-command to Dundas. Michael Seymour may refer to Sir Michael Seymour 1st Baronet (1768-1834 British naval commander Michael Seymour (naval commander (1802-1887 In the Royal Navy of the 1700s and 1800s a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an Admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command )
The Admiralty attempted to make Napier a scapegoat for the perceived failure of the campaign (which, within the limits of the possible, had been rather successful) and suborned several captains to testify to their lack of confidence in him, his timidity, his age, his lack of understanding of steam tactics, and his heavy drinking. Nevertheless some of the leading seamen in the fleet, such as Captain (later Admiral) Sir Bartholomew Sulivan, maintained along with him that Napier's strategy had been wise and the faults lay with the Admiralty themselves. Bartholomew James Sulivan (1810 – 1890 was a British sailor and Hydrographer.
After the war the Russians testified that, knowing Napier's reputation, their main hope had been of his making a foolhardy attack on their fleet under the guns of Kronstadt, where they were confident he would have come to grief. Napier was elected MP for Southwark in February 1855, and carried his dispute with the Admiralty to the floor of the House of Commons. Southwark was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Southwark district of South London. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords He was never given another command. He continued to campaign vigorously for the improvement of the way common seamen were treated during and after service, and maintained his parliamentary seat, though broken in health, until his death on the 6 November 1860. Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1860 ( MDCCLX) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year starting His tomb is in the churchyard of All Saints, Catherington in Hampshire. Catherington is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The ships of the Portuguese Navy went into eight days of mourning for their former commander.
Just before his death he was hoping to persuade Giuseppe Garibaldi to acquire a fleet for the liberation of Italy, which he would command. Garibaldi redirects here for other meanings see Garibaldi (disambiguation.
Character
According to the Encyclopedia entry of 1911, "Sir Charles Napier was a man of undoubted energy and courage, but of no less eccentricity and vanity. He caused great offence to many of his brother officers by his behaviour to his superior, Admiral Stopford, in the Syrian War, and was embroiled all his life in quarrels with the Admiralty. For the wars fought between the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC see Syrian Wars. " Napier was a large, untidy man of about 14 stone who walked with a limp and a stoop due to his leg and neck wounds. His common nickname in the Navy was 'Black Charlie' because of his swarthy appearance and dark side-whiskers. He was also known as 'Mad Charlie' because of his eccentric behaviour and enthusiasms, and 'Dirty Charlie' from his habit of wearing the most unsuitable and ill-fitting clothes while insisting that his officers were correctly dressed at all times.
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
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