View source for George Thomas Napier

{{Similar names|George Napier (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
 |width_style      = person
 |honorific_prefix = Sir
 |name             = George Napier
 |honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|KCB|size=100%}}
 |image            = George Thomas Napier.jpg
 |caption          =
 |birth_name       = George Thomas Napier
 |birth_date       = {{birth date|1784|06|30|df=y}}
 |birth_place      =
 |death_date       = {{death date and age|1855|09|16|1784|06|30|df=y}}
 |death_place      = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
 |allegiance       = {{flagu|United Kingdom|size=20px}}
 |branch_label     = Branch
 |branch           = [[British Army]]
 |serviceyears     =
 |rank             = [[Lieutenant general]]
 |unit             =
 |battles_label    = Wars
 |battles          = [[Peninsular War]]
}}

'''Sir George Thomas Napier''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|KCB}} (30 June 1784&nbsp;– 16 September 1855) was a [[British Army]] officer who saw service in the [[Peninsular War]] and later commanded the army of the [[Cape Colony]].

==Life==
He entered the British Army in 1800, and served with distinction under Sir [[John Moore (British soldier)|John Moore]] and the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] in the [[Peninsular War|Peninsula]]—losing his right arm at the 1812 storming of [[Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1812)|Ciudad Rodrigo]],{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} where, as a major in the [[52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot|52nd Foot]], he led the [[Light Division]]'s storming party.<ref>Glover, Michael; (1974) ''The Peninsular War 1807–1814: A Concise Military History'', UK: David & Charles, {{ISBN|0-7153-6387-5}}, pp. 180-181</ref>

He became major-general in 1837, [[Order of the Bath|KCB]] in 1838 and lieutenant-general in 1846. He was governor and Commander-In-Chief of the army in the [[British Cape Colony|Cape Colony]] from 1839 to 1843, during which time the [[Abolitionism in the United Kingdom|abolition of slavery]] and the expulsion of the [[Boers]] from [[KwaZulu-Natal Province|Natal]] were the chief events. He was offered, but declined, the chief command in [[India]] after the [[Battle of Chillianwalla]], and also that of the [[Sardinia]]n army in 1849. He became full general in 1854. He died at [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]] on 16 September 1855, aged 71.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His autobiography, ''Passages in the Early Military Life of General Sir G.T. Napier'', was published by his surviving son, General [[William Craig Emilius Napier]] (the author of an important work on outpost duty) in 1885.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

The town of [[Napier, Western Cape]], and also Napier House at [[Fairbairn College]], [[Goodwood, Cape Town]], are named after Sir George Thomas Napier.

[[File:Memorial plaque of George Thomas Napier.png|thumb|Memorial plaque of George Thomas Napier in [[Holy Trinity Church, Geneva]]]]

==Family==
* Father - Colonel [[George Napier]] (1751–1804)
* Mother - [[Lady Sarah Lennox]] (1745–1826), daughter of [[Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond]].
* Brother - Sir [[Charles James Napier]] (1782–1853), [[Commander-in-Chief in India]]. The [[New Zealand]] city of [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]] is named after him.
* Brother - Sir [[William Francis Patrick Napier]] (1785–1860), soldier and [[military historian]].
* Brother - [[Henry Edward Napier]] (1789–1853), naval officer and historian
* Wife - Frances Dorothea Blencowe, formerly married to William Peere Williams Freeman.
* Son-in-law - Colonel [[Henry William St Pierre Bunbury]] (1812–1875), married his daughter Cecilia
* Lieut. Colonel [[G. S. F. Napier|George S. F. Napier]] (c. 1862–1942)

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Napier, Sir William Francis Patrick|display=Napier, Sir William Francis Patrick s.v. Sir George Thomas Napier|volume=19|page=176}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box
| before=[[Benjamin d'Urban]]
| title=[[Governor of the Cape Colony]]|years=1838–1844
| after=[[Peregrine Maitland|Sir Peregrine Maitland]]}}
{{end}}

{{British Governors of the Cape Colony}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Napier, George Thomas}}
[[Category:1784 births]]
[[Category:1855 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army lieutenant generals]]
[[Category:Governors of the Cape Colony]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:Clan Napier|George Thomas]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:52nd Regiment of Foot officers]]
[[Category:People from Celbridge]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Kildare]]