The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-30 00:00:00

and now elevated, in June, 1811, to a lieutenant-
colonelcy—the subject of this memoir recovered
soon enough to .take a share in the hard-fought
fight of Fuentes d'Onore, where Lord Wellington
was also engaged with another division of the
army ; and he was present at the second siege of
Badajoz. It was during this siege that the dread-
fully sanguine battle of Albuera was fought by the
British troops, under the command of Marshal Be-
resford, and the Spanish troops in full flight. The
circumstances of Albuera are well known. The po-
sition of the English army had become well nigh
desperate, when by a consummate movement directed
by Colonel Hardinge (now command er-in-chief), the
tide was turned and the French (under Soult) routed
with wretched slaughter.
After taking part in innumerable skirmishes and
unrecorded rencontres, Lieutenant-Colonel Napier
returned to England and presently exchanged the
repose which the visit afforded him for the delights
of a fighting cruize off the Chesapeak, capturing
American vessels and making frequent descents
upon the coasts. This was, probably, the most
inglorious epoch of his life. Indeed the only
bright spot of that miserable war was the taking,
by the Shannon, of the Chesapeak—the exploit of
burning down Washington being one which we
have little to boast of. Back again in England,
upon the peace, Colonel Napier must, one would
think, have been grievously afflicted at missing
such a noble catastrophe as Waterloo. He arrived
however three days after the battle, took part in
the storming of the ramparts of Combray, and
accompanied the army to Paris. A period of mili-
tary inactivity followed, during part of which Co-
lonel Napier, being stationed in the Greek islands,
was appointed- to.the-government of the island of
Cephalonia. His brother, in the introductory part
of the "Conquest of Scinde," is eloquent about the
excellent government bestowed by Colonel Napier
on the Cephalonese, who, he says, still call him
" Father," and still cultivate and remit to him
the profits of a small patch of vines, Sir Charles
being ignorant even of the names of his attached
friends. Into the question of the recall of Sir
Charles from his Greek government we will not
enter. He was very indignant at the affair, and
expressed the same in very indignant phrases.
While in Cephalonia, Sir Charles concocted, with
Byron, a plan for the deliverance of Greece, which
however, says Sir William Napier, was disregarded
by the Greek committee in London, adding, " Why
it is for the Humes, the Ellices, and the Bowrings
to say."
After a short command of the military district of
the north of England, Sir Charles Napier, now
major-general, was ordered to take the command
of the army at Bombay ; and here commences the
most splendid period of his life, resulting in the
conquest, the pacification, and the great improve-
ment of Scinde. In 1841 he received the appoint-
ment, and immediately embarked. At Bombay he
soon attracted attention by the commencement of
that career of military reform for which he has be-
come so celebrated, attacking also the alleged
abuses of Lord Auckland's government, and re-
joicing in the advent of his lordship's successor,
the Eail of Ellenborough. At the suggestion of
the new Governor-General, Sir Charles drew up
the plan of an Affghanistan campaign. It was on
too extensive a scale to be adopted; but he accom-
plished more pfactical matter, in breaking down
the prejudices of the Sepoys in favour of the match-
lock over the musket, and arraigned the absurd
custom of providing every English soldier upon the
march with a chest, four of which formed the load
of a camel. The 22d, having marched for Scinde
with 1,300 chests and 300 camels, Sir Charles him-
self went by sea to the mouth of the Indus, fifty-
four deaths from cholera occurring on the passage
among the troops, and arrived in a jaded condition
at Kurrachee, where he suffered a severe injury
from the explosion of a rocket. Nothing daunted,
this daring captain set at once about his duties.
Scinde was in a very disordered condition,
and British influence much weakened by the
disasters of Cabul and Guznee, by the at-
tacks of the Hill Belooches, the defeat
of Colonel England, and the isolated po-
sition of General Nott, besieged in Candahar. But
Sir Charles wrote, " Danger from their warfare, I
can see none. I can beat all the princes in Scinde."
His first step, however, was the diplomatic one of
waiting upon the Ameers at Hyderabad. After
this he proceeded to Sukkur, and thence com-
menced his operations. He said he would reduce
the Ameers to an honest policy or a terrible war,
and he kept his word. These Ameers would ob-
serve no treaties. They made them and broke
them, and at last, Sir Charles Napier, seeing that
war was inevitable, turned his attention to the or-
ganisation of the army, and speedily issued the
subjoined very characteristic order :

"G-entlemen as well as beggars, if they like, may ride
to the devil when they get on horseback. But neither
gentlemen nor beggars have a right to send other people
to the devil, which will be the case if furious riding be
allowed in the bazaar. The major-general has placed a
detachment of horse at the disposal of Captain Pope,
who will arrest offenders and punish them, as far as the
regulations permit. And Captain Pope is not empowered
to let any one escape punishment, because, when orders
have been repeated and are not obeyed, it is time to en-
force them—without obedience an army becomes a mob,
and a cantonment a bear garden • the enforcement of
obedience is like physic, not agreeable but necessary."
Gradually arranging his plans for the campaign
—settling his points of defence and selecting his
points of attack, but still negotiating with the
treacherous Ameers—Sir Charles at length brought
matters to a head. He was fearfully over-
matched. At Meenee there were , stationed in
_ _

.:
entrenched fortifications 22,000 men, while Sir
Charles had but 2,800 troops in all, Sepoys and
English. Leaving, however, for the present, the
Ameers' troops unmolested, he pushed through a
wild country—nearly desert—to a mysterious for-
tification called Emaum Ghur, which no European
had ever seen, and which he ultimately reached
with fifty cavalry, two howitzers, and 300 Irish
infantry. A hostile army—ten times the number
of the British, hung upon his flank, but did not
venture to attack him. The fortification was
reached—a place with walls and towers perfectly
impregnable, but deserted. Mahommed. Khan,
one of the meers who had retreated there, having
fled from it with his army and his treasury, leaving
all his stores and gunpowder behind. Sir Charles
and his handful of men immediately set to work,
mined the whole place, blew it up, and returned
across the desert without having lost a single man.
The Duke of Wellington alluded to this singular
exploit in his speech in the House of Lords as
follows :

" Sir Charles Napier's march upon Emaum Ghur is
one of the most curious military feats which I have ever
known to be performed, or have ever perused an account
of in my life. He moved his troops through the desert
against hostile forces; he had his guns transported under
circumstances of extreme difficulty, and in a manner the
most extraordinary, and he cut off a retreat of the enemy
which rendered it impossible for them ever to regain
their positions."
Sir Charles now turned his attention to Meeanee
and the army of Belooches, organised by the
Ameers. The risk of encountering them seemed
fearful. The Belooches, though barbarians, fight
well, and preserve a species of discipline. Sir
Charles hoped that with his 2,600 men he could
attack and defeat a body of 16,000 Belooches before
the other divisions came up. He was disappointed,
for the night before the attack an army of 20,000
Belooches arrived, and Sir Charles found his 1,800
infantry and 800 cavalry drawn up opposite a host
of 25,000 infantry, and 10,000 irregular horsemen.
Yet he did not change his plan, although the Be-
looches were strongly posted in the bed and on the
bank of a dried up river. Perceiving that he could
not turn the flank of the foe, the General gave the
daring order for an attack in front. His little
army had been materially reduced by Colonel
Outram's escort, and a strong baggage guard de-
tached ; but full of enthusiasm and confident of
egs
victory, 1,600 Englishmen and SepeYs,
officers, advanced to the attack, the Belooches
being hidden behind their fortifications. Suddenly
Sir Charles perceived a wall with only opening,oneh
not very wide, and behind it swarmed
Beloo-
ches, and the General saw in an
intended to rush out through the opening. De-
instantte they
that
De-
taching the grenadier company
of the 22d, he
told their Captain, Tew, that he was to block that
opening—to die in it if it were necessary
was
as . And the
gallant captain did die ; but the opening
blocked, and the action of 6,000 men paralysed
by the skilful disposition of eighty.w The details
of the fearful battle which followed are too well
known to require minute recapitulation. Suffice it
to say that the vast multitude of Belooches, after
a first fire, rushed upon the 22d with a terrific cry,
waving their swords and covering themselves with
their shields. But, with shouts as loud and arms
as strong, the gallant 22d met them with, says Sir
W. Napier, " that queen of weapons the musket,
and sent their foremost masses rolling back in
blood." During this struggle, the English Sappers
fought gallantly, protecting the artillery, which,
having gained the flank, swept diagonally with
grape th crowded masses of the Belooches, who
"gave their breasts to the shot, and leaping at the
twenties at a time." guns were blown away by