Napier, Charles John

He graduated from Edinburgh Royal High School ( Royal High School, Edinburgh ). November 1, 1799 volunteered for the sloop Martin , cruising in the North Sea . He served on various courts, in November 1802 he became midshipman , November 30, 1805 - lieutenant. He received baptism of fire in 1806 , participating in the February expedition of John Warren , then on March 30, when capturing the French 74-gun battleship Marengo and the frigate Belle-Poule .

During cruising in the West Indies in 1807 , commanding the Pultusk brig , he participated in the capture of a Spanish merchant ship, which was protected by batteries on the island of Puerto Rico .

In 1808 , commanding an 18-gun Recruit brig, he was wounded in a stubborn battle with the 22-gun French corvette Diligente , which he forced to take to flight.

In 1809, on the island of Martinique, Napier went ashore with 5 subordinates and in broad daylight picked up an English gues on a battery Edward 309 feet from the French fort Bourbon. April 17 of the same year, after more than two days of chasing three French ships, took the 74-gun ship Haupoult . The Commander-in-Chief, Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane , appointed him commander of this prize.

In 1810 Napier, who was dismissed from service for careless speech to the voters of his constituency, went to Portugal and joined the ranks of the English army. On September 27, he was wounded a second time in a battle with the French at Bussaco .

In 1811, Napier was returned to the fleet. Having received the command of the 32-gun frigate Thames , he distinguished himself in a number of battles with the French in the Mediterranean , off the coast of Italy. Captured up to 40 small vessels and several batteries.

In 1812, while continuing his raids on the Italian ports and islands, Napier took the French shebek of La Fortune , up to 20 merchant ships and forced the French frigate Baleine to land on shore.

Sent in 1814 in the detachment of Vice Admiral Cochrane in the waters of North America, Napier was particularly distinguished in operations against Baltimore , where he was wounded again.

In 1815 , upon returning to England, his frigate was handed over to the port, and Napier, awarded the Order of the Bath , lived in France until 1829 , where, among other things, he organized shipping on the Seine .

Returning to service in 1829 , Napier again commanded the courts, but in 1833 left the English service and transferred with the rank of vice admiral to the Portuguese fleet . July 5, 1833 won at Cape San Vicente a decisive victory over the strongest fleet of Miguel Bragança . For this victory, in September of that year, Napier was awarded a large cross of the Order of the Tower and the Sword , received the title of Count of San Vicente with the erection in the grandees of Portugal. October 15, 1834 received the rank of admiral of the Portuguese fleet.

He returned to English service in 1839 . In 1840 he received the title of Commodore . In the summer of that year, he patrolled along the coast of Lebanon , protecting the Maronite Christians from the 15,000-strong Egyptian army of Ibrahim Pasha . September 28 forced the capitulation of the Egyptian garrison in Sidon . On October 3, the Egyptians left Beirut . Commanding a combined Anglo-Austro-Turkish landing, Napier defeated an Egyptian detachment on October 10 , which held a strong position in the mountains near Beirut and captured about 5 thousand people. November 3 , after heavy bombardment, occupied Acre - the last stronghold of the Egyptians on the coast of the Levant . On November 25, he took command of the Allied squadron in Alexandria . November 27 concluded a peace convention with Muhamed Ali . He was elevated to the Knights Commanders of the Order of the Bath, awarded the Russian Order of St. George of the 3rd degree ( November 16, 1840), the Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa of the 3rd degree and the Prussian Order of the Red Eagle of the 3rd degree.

Upon returning to England, he was appointed naval adjutant under Queen Victoria . In 1841 - 1847 - Member of Parliament from Marylebone County ( Marylebone (UK Parliament constituency) ). In 1846 he was promoted to rear admiral .

With the beginning of the Crimean War , in February 1854 he was promoted to vice admiral and appointed commander of the English squadron in the Baltic Sea . Contributed to the surrender of Bomarsund . But then military luck left Napier: lacking sufficient funds for decisive action, Napier refused to attack Sveaborg and Vyborg , for which he was criticized by the Admiralty . In September, he was removed from the post of squadron commander, recalled to England and dismissed. In 1855 - 1860 - Member of Parliament from Southwark County ( Southwark (UK Parliament constituency) ).

From the literary works of Napier it is necessary to note “Comments on the design and qualities of the Vernon and Castor frigates and on ship architecture in general”, “Comments on the state of the fleet”, “Description of the war in Portugal between Don Pedro and Don Miguel” (1836), “Description war in Syria ”(1842),“ History of the Baltic campaign of 1854 ”(1857).

• Napier, Charles, Carlos da Ponza, Count S.-Vincent // Nitroglycerin - Patrol. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1914. - P. 63. - ( Military Encyclopedia : [18 vol.] / edited by K. I. Velichko [and others ]; 1911-1915, v. 17).
• Sir Charles Napier - British Encyclopedia article
• Nepir // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.