James Alexander Gordon
Encyclopedia
Admiral of the Fleet
Sir James Alexander Gordon, KCB, RN
(6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a distinguished British officer in the Royal Navy
. His 75 years in the service, from Midshipman
to Admiral of the Fleet
was unprecedented in its duration. He served in the Napoleonic Wars
and the War of 1812
. Historian Bryan Perrett has suggested that his career was the model for events in the Horatio Hornblower
novels of C. S. Forester
.
sympathies, the Gordons of Beldorney and Wardhouse. He was born the eldest son of Charles Gordon of Wardhouse, Aberdeenshire, and his wife, a daughter of Major James Mercer, of Auchnacant, Aberdeenshire, at Kildrummy Castle, Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire
He entered the Royal Navy in 1793 as a Midshipman in HMS Arrogant (74). He transferred in 1795 to the frigate
Révolutionnaire, which was part of Alexander Hood
's fleet in the Battle of Groix
on 23 June 1795. In 1796 Gordon moved to the ship-of-the-line HMS Namur (90), in which he was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 13/14 February 1797. Later in 1797 Gordon became Master's Mate
aboard HMS Goliath (74), which on 1 August 1798 formed part of the fleet under Horatio Nelson
which inflicted a crushing defeat on the French fleet commanded by François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
in the Battle of the Nile
. In 1800 he was appointed second Lieutenant
of the sloop Bordelais which on 29 January 1801, while escorting a convoy to the West Indies, fought a smart action with three French brig
s, capturing one. In the Caribbean
later that year Gordon, on an independent mission, was captured by the Haitian government of Toussaint L’Ouverture and spent four months in prison before being released by cartel. He was made first Lieutenant of the brig (18) in 1802 and returned to the West Indies. Raccoons capture of the French corvette
Lodi on 11 July 1803 led to Gordon's promotion to Commander and command of Raccoon on 22 October.
duties off Cádiz
, and was part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a Spanish convoy, 20 gunboats and land artillery off the town of Rota
on 4 April 1808. On 27 June he became captain of the frigate HMS Active (38) at Gibraltar
and spent the next three years in operations in the Mediterranean and Adriatic. Active was one of the four ships under the command of William Hoste
that successfully defeated a much larger French squadron at the first Battle of Lissa
, 13 March 1811, and on 28 November she was one of three that defeated three more powerful French frigates off Pelagosa. In this latter action Gordon’s left knee was shattered by a cannon ball and his leg had to be amputated; he used a wooden leg for the remainder of his life. He recuperated in Malta
and was able to take Active back to England in June 1812, where he married. He then took command of the frigate Seahorse, escorting convoys for the West Indies and enforcing the blockade of France. In 1814 she transferred to the American station, where the War of 1812
was still under way. Gordon, with Charles Napier as his second in command, distinguished himself as commodore leading the successful expedition up the Potomac
, 17 August to 6 September, and also took part in the Battle of Baltimore
and the attack on Fort McHenry
, 12–14 September.
in 1828, and in 1832 moved on to become Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard
. He attained the rank of Rear Admiral
in 1837, and in 1840 became Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich
; he would remain associated with the running of that institution and the care of old seamen until his death. He became a Vice-Admiral in 1848 and full Admiral in 1853, in which year he succeeded to Sir Robert Stopford as Governor of the Greenwich Hospital. On 30 January 1868, aged 86, he attained the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. He died at Greenwich just under a year later and was buried in the Hospital grounds. An obituary in Macmillan’s Magazine hailed him as "The Last of Nelson’s Captains".
. It is clear that Forester was familiar with the facts of Gordon’s life, and it may be significant that in his history of the War of 1812 he very nearly avoids mentioning Gordon at all while giving full details of most of the other officers involved. There are indeed many parallels between Gordon’s career and Hornblower’s, but many divergences also, and it remains likely that the exploits of Forester’s hero are an amalgam of those of several leading officers of the Napoleonic War period, notably including Thomas Cochrane
(whose exploits were also used by Patrick O'Brian
in his Aubrey–Maturin series
).
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-10. The rank still exists in the Royal Navy but routine appointments ceased in 1996....
Sir James Alexander Gordon, KCB, RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a distinguished British officer in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. His 75 years in the service, from Midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
to Admiral of the Fleet
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-10. The rank still exists in the Royal Navy but routine appointments ceased in 1996....
was unprecedented in its duration. He served in the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Historian Bryan Perrett has suggested that his career was the model for events in the Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
novels of C. S. Forester
C. S. Forester
Cecil Scott "C.S." Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of naval warfare. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen...
.
Early career
Gordon came of a family of minor Highland gentry of JacobiteJacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
sympathies, the Gordons of Beldorney and Wardhouse. He was born the eldest son of Charles Gordon of Wardhouse, Aberdeenshire, and his wife, a daughter of Major James Mercer, of Auchnacant, Aberdeenshire, at Kildrummy Castle, Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire
He entered the Royal Navy in 1793 as a Midshipman in HMS Arrogant (74). He transferred in 1795 to the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
Révolutionnaire, which was part of Alexander Hood
Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport
|-...
's fleet in the Battle of Groix
Battle of Groix
The Second Battle of Groix was a naval engagement that took place on 23 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary War off the west coast of France....
on 23 June 1795. In 1796 Gordon moved to the ship-of-the-line HMS Namur (90), in which he was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, 13/14 February 1797. Later in 1797 Gordon became Master's Mate
Master's mate
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master...
aboard HMS Goliath (74), which on 1 August 1798 formed part of the fleet under Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
which inflicted a crushing defeat on the French fleet commanded by François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers
Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers, Comte de Brueys was the French commander in the Battle of the Nile, in which the French Revolutionary Navy was defeated by Royal Navy forces under Admiral Horatio Nelson. The British victory helped to ensure their naval supremacy throughout the...
in the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
. In 1800 he was appointed second Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
of the sloop Bordelais which on 29 January 1801, while escorting a convoy to the West Indies, fought a smart action with three French brig
Brig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
s, capturing one. In the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
later that year Gordon, on an independent mission, was captured by the Haitian government of Toussaint L’Ouverture and spent four months in prison before being released by cartel. He was made first Lieutenant of the brig (18) in 1802 and returned to the West Indies. Raccoons capture of the French corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...
Lodi on 11 July 1803 led to Gordon's promotion to Commander and command of Raccoon on 22 October.
Frigate captain
Gordon was created Post Captain in May 1805 and assigned command of the frigate Laegera (28), but was unable to take up the position because of illness. He was without a command until 1807, when he took over the frigate HMS Mercury (28), engaged in blockadeBlockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
duties off Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, and was part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a Spanish convoy, 20 gunboats and land artillery off the town of Rota
Rota, Spain
-External references:*, official website * On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... ****- External links :...
on 4 April 1808. On 27 June he became captain of the frigate HMS Active (38) at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
and spent the next three years in operations in the Mediterranean and Adriatic. Active was one of the four ships under the command of William Hoste
William Hoste
Captain Sir William Hoste, 1st Baronet KCB RN , Royal Navy captain, was the son of Dixon Hoste, rector of Godwick and Tittleshall in Norfolk...
that successfully defeated a much larger French squadron at the first Battle of Lissa
Battle of Lissa (1811)
The Battle of Lissa was a naval action fought between a British frigate squadron and a substantially larger squadron of French and Venetian frigates and smaller ships on 13 March 1811 during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars...
, 13 March 1811, and on 28 November she was one of three that defeated three more powerful French frigates off Pelagosa. In this latter action Gordon’s left knee was shattered by a cannon ball and his leg had to be amputated; he used a wooden leg for the remainder of his life. He recuperated in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and was able to take Active back to England in June 1812, where he married. He then took command of the frigate Seahorse, escorting convoys for the West Indies and enforcing the blockade of France. In 1814 she transferred to the American station, where the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
was still under way. Gordon, with Charles Napier as his second in command, distinguished himself as commodore leading the successful expedition up the Potomac
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, 17 August to 6 September, and also took part in the Battle of Baltimore
Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812. It was one of the turning points of the war as American forces repulsed sea and land invasions of the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading...
and the attack on Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
, 12–14 September.
Postwar career
Gordon was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815 for his activities in the American war. He was lucky after the cessation of hostilities against the USA and Napoleon to continue for a while in seagoing commands, as captain of the frigate Madagascar in 1815–1816 and then of the frigate Meander in the latter year. In 1819 he rejoined his old command, HMS Active, and was again her captain until 1821. After this he held no further seagoing command. He was appointed Superintendent of the Naval Hospital at PlymouthPlymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in 1828, and in 1832 moved on to become Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
. He attained the rank of Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
in 1837, and in 1840 became Lieutenant-Governor of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
; he would remain associated with the running of that institution and the care of old seamen until his death. He became a Vice-Admiral in 1848 and full Admiral in 1853, in which year he succeeded to Sir Robert Stopford as Governor of the Greenwich Hospital. On 30 January 1868, aged 86, he attained the rank of Admiral of the Fleet. He died at Greenwich just under a year later and was buried in the Hospital grounds. An obituary in Macmillan’s Magazine hailed him as "The Last of Nelson’s Captains".
Posthumous reputation
By the time of his death Gordon was largely forgotten, and his only modern biography trades heavily on the thesis that his career was the principal model for that of C. S. Forester’s hero Horatio HornblowerHoratio Hornblower
Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy officer who is the protagonist of a series of novels by C. S. Forester. He was later the subject of films and television programs.The original Hornblower tales began with the 1937 novel The Happy Return Horatio Hornblower is a fictional Royal Navy...
. It is clear that Forester was familiar with the facts of Gordon’s life, and it may be significant that in his history of the War of 1812 he very nearly avoids mentioning Gordon at all while giving full details of most of the other officers involved. There are indeed many parallels between Gordon’s career and Hornblower’s, but many divergences also, and it remains likely that the exploits of Forester’s hero are an amalgam of those of several leading officers of the Napoleonic War period, notably including Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane may refer to:*Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald , Scottish nobleman and politician*Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald , Marquis of Maranhão, naval officer and radical politician...
(whose exploits were also used by Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian
Patrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
in his Aubrey–Maturin series
Aubrey–Maturin series
The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of nautical historical novels—20 completed and one unfinished—by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also a physician,...
).