Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/145

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NAPIER OF MAGDALA NAPLES 137 war. In 1811 he became major and in 1813 lieutenant colonel. He was repeatedly wounded during the war, particularly at Almeida, and in following the retreat of Massena from Por- tugal in 1811. He became major general in 1841. Between 1842 and 1848 he was lieu- | tenant governor of Guernsey, and in 1848 he j was created knight commander of the bath, i In 1851 he became lieutenant general, and in j 1859 general. He is best known as a writer J of military history. His principal work is "The History of the War in the Peninsula and in the South of France from 1807 to 1814" (6 vols., London, 1828-'40). In the preparation of this eminent work he was sup- plied with materials and documents by the duke of Wellington, Marshal Soult, and other officers, English and French. His wife, a niece of Charles James Fox, deciphered for him the secret correspondence of Joseph Bonaparte. The critical and positive character of this work subjected it to much animadversion, calling out several replies from the author, which were appended to the later editions under the title of " Justificative Pieces." In 1855 he published a volume entitled "English Battles and Sieges in the Peninsula," consisting principally of extracts from his large work, with portions rewritten. He also published " The Conquest of Scinde " (1845), and " The Life and Opinions of the late Sir Charles Napier " (185V). NAPIER OF MAGDALA, Robert Cornells Napier, baron, a British general, born in Ceylon, Dec. 6, 1810. His father was a major in the royal artillery, and he was educated in the royal military academy at Addiscombe, and in 1826 entered the Bengal engineers. In the Sutlej campaign of 1845-'6, during which he held the rank of brigade major, he served with distinc- tion, and was severely wounded. He was wounded a second time at the siege of Mool- tan, where for some time he acted as chief engineer officer. In 1849 he was made a lieutenant colonel for meritorious conduct at Guzerat. He was engaged in active service throughout the sepoy mutiny, distinguishing himself by the engineering operations which he conducted against Lucknow, and subse- quently as a brigade commander, particularly at the siege of Gwalior and the battle of Pow- ree. In 1858 he was made a knight command- j er of the bath. Two years later he took part in the Anglo-French expedition against China, with the local rank of major general, and , achieved special distinction in the operations | preceding the capture of Peking. He became | a colonel of the royal engineers in 1862 ; and from 1861 until his appointment to the com- mand of the Bombay army with the local rank of general in 1865, he was a member of the council of the governor general of India. In t October, 1867, having been promoted to the full rank of lieutenant general, he was select- ed by the home government to command the expedition to Abyssinia for the release of the British prisoners held by King Theodore at Magdala. He landed at Annesley bay on Jan. 7, 1868, and in a brief and brilliant campaign defeated the Abyssinian army, and on April 13 assaulted and captured Magdala, the Brit- ish prisoners having previously been released. (See ABYSSINIA.) For this achievement Sir Robert Napier received the grand cross of the bath, and was raised to the peerage July 17, 1868. In 1870 he was appointed com- mander-in-chief of the forces in India, with local rank as general, and in this capacity he is a member of the viceroy's council. He has a parliamentary annuity of 2,000 voted in 1868, and has thrice received the thanks of parliament: in 1859, for his services during the Indian mutiny ; in 1861, for his skill and intrepidity at Peking ; and in 1868, for his conduct of the Abyssinian expedition. NAPIERVILLE, a S. W. county of Quebec, Canada; area, 152 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 11,688, of whom 10,815 were of French ori- gin. It is traversed by a division of the Grand Trunk railway. Capital, Napierville. NAPLES. I. Kingdom of. See SICILIES, THE Two. II* A province of the kingdom of Italy, bordering on Caserta, Salerno, and the Tyr- rhenian sea ; area, 412 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 907,752. It is the most beautiful and most fertile of all the Italian provinces, producing olives and wines of the best quality. The east- ern part is mountainous, being traversed by ramifications of the Apennines. The principal rivers are the Sarno and Sebeto. There are many lakes, none of them large ; the most important are Lakes Fusaro, Averno, and Lu- crino (the Acherusia, Avernus, and Lucrinus of ancient Campania). It is divided into the districts of Casoria, Castellamare di Sta- bia, Naples, and Pozzuoli. NAPLES (Ital. Napoli ; anc. Neapolis), the largest city of Italy, in the province of the same name, on the N. coast of the bay of Naples, and on the river Sebeto, in the im- mediate vicinity of Mt. Vesuvius, and not far from the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii, 118 m. S. E. of Rome, with which it is con- nected by railway; lat. 40 51' N., Ion. 14 15' E. ; pop. in 1872, 448,335. The approach to Naples from the sea is famous for its loveli- ness. The entrance of the bay, from Cape Miceno on the N. W. to Cape Campanella on the S. E., has a width of about 20 m., with a circuit of about 35 m., and an indentation of about 15m. It is well sheltered, and has good anchorage with seven fathoms of water. At the N. W. entrance are the islands of Ischia and Procida, and at the S. E. the island of .Capri, while on the N. shore the city rises in an amphitheatre. On the E. side Mt. Vesuvius is in full view, and numerous towns and vil- lages line the shore. The beauty of the bay has been celebrated by ancient and modern writers, and it is the subject of numerous fine paintings. The city has five principal land entrances, but it is open like London and New York, provided only at the leading avenues