William Napier (British Army officer, born 1785)
Irish soldier in the British Army and military historian (1785-1860)
General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, KCB (7 December 1785 – 12 February 1860) was a British Army officer and historian.
Early life
Napier was born at Celbridge in County Kildare, the third son of Colonel George Napier (1751–1804) and his wife, Lady Sarah Lennox (1745–1826).
Military service
He became an ensign in the Royal Irish Artillery in 1800, but at once exchanged into the 62nd, and was put on half-pay in 1802. He was afterwards made a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards 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 accepted Sir John Moore's suggestion that he should exchange into the 52nd, which was about to be trained at Shorncliffe Army Camp. Through Sir John Moore he soon obtained a company in the 43rd, joined that regiment at Shorncliffe and became a favourite with Moore.
He served in Denmark, and was present at the Battle of Køge and, his regiment being shortly afterwards sent to Spain, took part in the retreat to Corunna, the hardships of which permanently impaired his health. In 1809 he became aide-de-camp to his cousin 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 was on the march to Talavera which he 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. After taking part in the pursuit of Masséna after he left the lines of Torres Vedras, he and his brother George were recommended for a brevet majority.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q637730. VIAF identifies the subject as 25337800. The Library of Congress control number is n85300668. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1785, 1860, 1751 and 1804.
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This entry incorporates text from “William Napier (British Army officer, born 1785)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.