Napoleon Boardman was born on January 30, 1825 on Grand Isle in Lake Champlain, but moved to Burlington, Vermont in 1836. In Vermont, he attended Norwich University, receiving a Master of Civil Engineering degree in 1847. After graduation, having worked previously with the Vermont Central Railroad, Boardman became an engineer for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad. In 1852, he moved to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where he began work as an engineer on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.
When the Civil War broke out, Boardman enlisted in the Second Wisconsin Cavalry on October 8, 1861. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant, November 14, 1861 and later as chief of ordnance in the Army of the Frontier in Missouri. His final commission, February 23, 1864, was that of captain with the Second Missouri Light Artillery. Boardman was at the battle of Prairie Grove, and also was part of the unsuccessful Powder River expedition. He was mustered out with the company in St. Louis, Missouri, on December 20, 1865.
After the war, Boardman went back to engineering, working for the Michigan Grand Trunk Railroad, the Milwaukee and La Crosse Railroad, the Saint Paul Eastern Railroad, and the Michigan Central Railroad. He died on December 21, 1899.
