Napier became the military member of the Council of the Governor-General of India in 1861, acting for a short while as Governor-General after the sudden death of Lord Elgin. He assumed command of the Bombay Army with the local rank of lieutenant general on 7 February 1865 and received promotion to the substantive rank of lieutenant-general on 1 March 1867 before taking command of the punitive expedition to Abyssinia July 1867.