The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-04-23 00:00:00

up EXPLOITS Or CO,

ODOR

PIER.

Commodore Charles Napier is the eldest son of the Hon.
Charles Napier, R. N., of Merchistoun Hall, in the county
of Stirling. The inhabitants of Falkirk have put in their
claim to him as a townsman.
He married Eliza, widow of Lieutenant Edward Elers,
R. N., and this lady has had paid to her the greatest com-
pliment ever yet received by the wife of a naval officer, as,

immediately
Beyrout, Li

lying the intellig

first Lord of th

posted down to her residence at El
her that as a testimony of their lordships _
her husband's conduct they had appointed her son Captain
Charles Napier to a ship ; as well as to convey to her an ex-
pression of the obligation of the government and tl

o announ

he grati-

tude of his sovereign.
The Commodore entered the navy early in life ; for, at the
age of twenty-two 'we find him a captain in the Recruit on

est India station

From thi

heroic services can be so interesting or so characteristic as
that given by himself to the burgesses of Portsmouth, when
he offered himself as a candidate at the election of 1833 :
" In the course of my canvass (said the gallant officer), I
have been asked who I am ? I'll tell you. I am Captain
Charles Napier, who, twenty-five years ago, commanded the
Recruit brig in the West Indies, and who had the honour of
being twenty-four hours under the guns of three French
line-of-battle ships flying from a British squadron, the, nearest
of which, with the exception of the Hawk brig, was from
five to six miles astern the greatest part of the time. I
kept flying double-shotted broadsides into them. One
of these ships (the Hautpoult) only was captured by
the Pompey and Castor, the other two escaped by superior
sailing. Sir Alex. Cochrane, my commander-in-chief, pro-
moted me on the spot into her. At the siege of Martinique,
the 2Eolus, Cleopatra, and Recruit were ordered to beat up, in
the night between Pigeon Island and the main, and anchor close
to Fort Edward ; the enemy, fearing an attack, burnt their
shipping. At daylight in the morning it appeared to me that
Fort Edward was abandoned : this, however, was doubted.
I offered to ascertain the fact, and with five men 1 landed in
open day, scaled the walls, and planted the union jack on the
ramparts. Fortunately I was undiscovered from Fort Bour-
bon, which stood about a hundred yards off, and commanded
it. On this being reported to Sir Alexander Cochrane, a
regiment was landed in the night. Fort Edward was taken
possession of, and the mortars turned against the enemy. I
am in possession of a letter from Sir A. Cochrane, saying
that my conduct was the means of saving many lives, and
shortening the siege of Martinique.' I had once the mi4or-
tune of receiving a precious licking from a French corvette :
the first shot she fired broke my thigh, and a plumper carried
away my mainmast. The enemy escaped, but the British
flag was not tarnished. On my return to England, in com-
mand of the Jason, 1 was turned out of her by the Admiralty
because I had no interest ; but as I could not lead an idle life,
I served a campaign with the army in Portugal as a volun-
teer, when I was again wounded. At the battle of Busaco I
had the honour of carrying off the field my gallant friend and
relative, Colonel Napier, now near me, who was shot through
the face. Busaco was not the only field where he shed his
blood : at Corunna he was left for dead, but, thank God ! he
escaped with six wounds. On my return to England I was
appointed to the Thames, in the Mediterranean ; and if I
could bring the inhabitants of the Neapolitan coast into this
room, they would tell you, that from Naples to the Faro
Point there was not a spot where I did not leave my mark,
and brought off with me upwards of a hundred sail of gun-
boats and merchant vessels. I had the honour of running the
Thames and Furieuse into the small mole of Ponza, which was
strongly defended ; and before they could recover from their
surprise, I r It' 4 tom,• • - -..t