Overall: 56cm (22in) x 49cm (19.5in)
Oil on canvas. Quarter length profile portrait of General Sir Charles Napier. Framed.
Charles James Napier (1782–1853) was born Ireland, entered the Army in 1794 and first saw active service in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. He commanded 1/50th Foot in the Retreat to Coruña where he was wounded five times and left for dead. He was saved by a French drummer and after interventions from Marshals Soult and Ney was part of a prisoner swap. Joining the Light Division as a volunteer, he acted as aide-de camp to General Craufurd at the battle on the Coa (1810), and had two horses killed under him. Attached to Lord Wellington's staff; at the battle of Busaco (1810) he was shot through the face, his jaw broken, and his eye injured. He was sent to Lisbon, where he was laid up for some months. In 1813 he led a brigade that included a corps of Frenchmen enlisted from POWs in raids on east coast of America. In 1815 he rushed back to Europe to take part in the storming of Cambrai and the march into Paris. In 1821 he was appointed high commissioner of Cephalonia. At this time he made a deep impression on Lord Byron who spoke of him on his deathbed. Napier was later a Major-General of the Bombay Army, during which he led the Conquest of Scinde, before serving as the governor of Scinde, and Commander-in-Chief in India.