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NAPIER, SIR WILLIAM FRANCIS PATRICK (1785-1860) , British soldier and military historian, third son of Colonel George Napier (1751-1804), and brother of Sir Charles James Napier (see above), was born at Celbridge, near Dublin, on the 17th of December 1785. He became an ensign in the Royal Irish Artillery in 'Soo, but at once exchanged into the 62nd, and was put on half-pay in 1802. He was afterwards made a cornet in the Blues by the influence of his uncle the duke of Richmond, and for the first time did actual military duty in this regiment, but he soon fell in with Sir John Moore's suggestion that he should exchange into the 52nd, which was about to be trained in the famous camp of Snorncliffe. Through Sir John Moore he soon obtained a company in the 43rd, joined that regiment at Shorncliffe and became a great favourite with Moore. He served in Denmark, and was present at the engagement of Kioge, and, his regiment being shortly afterwards sent to Spain, he bore himself nobly through the retreat to Corunna, the hardships of which permanently impaired his health. In 1809 he becameFE8El aide-de-camp to the duke of Richmond, lord lieutenant of Ireland, but joined the 43rd when that regiment was ordered again to Spain. With the light brigade (the 43rd, 52nd, and 95th), under the command of General Craufurd, he marched to Talavera in the famous forced march which he has described in his History, and had a violent attack of pleurisy on the way. He, however, refused to leave Spain, was wounded on the Coa, and shot near the spine at Cazal Nova. His conduct was so conspicuous during the pursuit of Massena after he left the lines of Torres Vedras that he as well as his brother George was recommended for a brevet majority. He became brigade major, was present at Fuentes d'Onor, but had so bad an attack of ague that he was obliged to return to England. In England he married Caroline Amelia Fox, daughter of General Henry Fox and niece of the statesman Fox. Three weeks after his marriage he again started for Spain, and was present at the storming of Badajoz, where his great friend Colonel M`Leod was killed. In the absence of the new lieutenant-colonel he took command of the 43rd regiment (he was now a substantive major) and commanded it at the battle of Salamanca. After a short stay at home he again joined his regiment at the Pyrenees, and did his greatest military service at the battle of the Nivelle, where, with instinctive military insight, he secured the most strongly fortified part of Soup's position, practically without orders. He served with his regiment at the battles of the Nive, where he received two wounds, Orthes, and Toulouse. For his services he was made brevet lieutenant-colonel, and one of the first C.B.'s. ' Like his brother Charles he then entered the military college at Farnham
. The years he had spent in France he had occupied in improving his general education, for, incredible as it seems, the author of the History of the War in the Peninsula could not spell or write respectable English till that time. But his career was to be great in literature, not in art. The tendency appeared in an able review of Jomini's works (Edinburgh Rev.) in 1821, and in 1823 Mr Bickersteth (afterwards Lord Langdale) suggested to him the expediency of writing a history of the Peninsular War. For some time he did not take kindly to the suggestion, but at last determined to become an author in order to defend the memory of Sir John Moore, and to prevent the glory
chief
interest
His life during these years had been chiefly absorbed in his History, but he had warmly sympathized with the movement
for political reform which was agitating England. The Radicals of Bath and many other cities and towns pressed him to enter parliament, and Napier was actually invited to become the military chief
Guernsey
scheme of reform in the government of the island. While he was at Guernsey
' As a military historian Sir William Napier is incomparably superior to any other English writer, and his true compeers are Thucydides, Caesar and Davila. All four had been soldiers in the wars they describe; all four possessed a peculiar insight into the mainsprings of action both in war and peace; and each possessed a peculiar and inimitable style. Napier always wrote as if he was burning with an inextinguishable desire to express what he was feeling, which gives his style a peculiar spontaneity, and yet he rewrote the first volume of his History no less than six times. His descriptions of sieges and of battles are admirable by themselves, and his analyses of the peculiarly intricate Spanish intrigues are even more remarkable, while the descriptions and analyses are both lit up with flashes of political wisdom and military insight. It is to be noted that he displays the spirit of the partisan, even when most impartial, and defends his opinions, even when most undoubtedly true, as if he were arguing some controverted question. If his style was modelled on anything, it was on Caesar's commentaries, and a thorough knowledge of the writings of the Roman general will often explain allusions in Napier. The portraits of Sir John Moore and Colonel M'Leod, and the last paragraphs descriptive of the storming of Badajoz, may be taken as examples of his great natural eloquence. His brother, SIR GEORGE TIIOMAS NAPIER (17841855); entered the army in 1800, and served with distinction under Moore and Wellington in the Peninsulaand lost his right arm at the storming of Badajoz. He became major-general in 1837, K.C.B. in 1838 and lieutenant-general in 1846. He was governor and commander
The youngest brother, HENRY EDWARD NAPIER (1789-1853), served in the navy during the Napoleonic wars, retired as a captain, and wrote a learned Florentine History from the earliest authentic Records to the Accession of Ferdinand III. of Tuscany (1846-1847). For Sir William Napier's life, see his Life and Letters, edited by the Right Honourable H. A. Bruce (Lord Aberdare) (2 vols., 1862). End of Article: NAPIER, SIR WILLIAM FRANCIS PATRICK (1785-1860) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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