Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala (1810-1890), was a British soldier.

He was the son of Major Charles Frederick Napier , who was wounded at the storming of Meester Corneis (August 26 1810) in Java and died some months later. Robert was born in Ceylon on December 6 1810. He joined the Bengal Engineers at the age of 18 and served with distinction throughout the Sikh Wars.

He later served in the North West Frontier District and saw action in Peshawar and Afghanistan.

He served during the Indian Mutiny, helping to mop up the final resistance before commanding a division during the war with China.

His achieved his greatest fame as Field Marshal, leading a punitive expedition in 1867 to Magdala, the capital of Abyssinia, which rescued several captured British diplomats and roundly defeated the Abyssinian forces. He received a parlimentary pension, was made Grand Commander of the Order of the Bath, a freeman of the City of London and given a peerage, Baron Napier of Magdala.

He later became Commander-in-Chief in India .

Lord Napier of Magdala died on January 14 1890.

|- style="text-align: center;" | width="30%" |Preceded by:
The Lord Sandhurst | width="40%" style="text-align: center;" |Commander-in-Chief, India
1870–1876 | width="30%" |Succeeded by:
Sir Frederick Paul Haines

External links

• Entry for Baron Napier in the 1911 edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica