James Gordon

Lieutenant-Colonel James Gordon, the third and last Laird of the barony of Ellon, daughter of Alexander Glen and sister of James Glen (1701–1777), Governor of South Carolina and keeper of the Palace of Linlithgow.

The Gordon family lived at Linlithgow Palace. On 1 February 1746, government troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Henry Hawley, were pursuing Jacobites in the area, and they left their overnight camp in the palace, rushing out leaving their campfires burning. The 320-year-old structure was badly damaged.

On 4 September 1747, the elder Gordon executed a deed (registered 23 March 1732) empowering his spouse, conjoined with others, to have full charge of his lands or to dispose of them. He died, according to his will, in April 1749. His inventory was given up by his widow, Elizabeth Glen.

Military career Gordon initially served as an officer in the 115th Regiment of Foot (Royal Scotch Lowlanders) which were raised at Paisley in 1701, and disbanded about 1763, when he was placed on half pay. He was appointed major in the 80th Regiment of Foot (Royal Edinburgh Volunteers) on 16 December 1777 and accompanied the regiment on active service during the American Revolutionary War "His soldiership during the war," writes Katherine Mayo, "earned him Cornwallis' praise – coupled once with an aside: 'When I first knew Gordon, twenty years ago, gay in gay London, who could have guessed how much lay in the man?'"

In May 1782, 13 captains under Gordon's command were compelled to draw lots to determine which one should be executed in retaliation for the earlier execution of patriot captain Joshua Huddy on orders from William Franklin, the former Royal governor of New Jersey. Charles Asgill drew the paper marked unfortunate and was put under a sentence of death.

Death and legacy

Gordon died of dropsy on 17 October 1783 at the Morris House in Kingsbridge, Upper Manhattan.

On his deathbed he was visited by Captain Samuel Graham who had served with him throughout the Revolutionary war. In his memoir, Graham stated that Gordon handed him a letter he had received from Lady Asgill (Charles Asgill's mother) in which she expresses her deepest gratitude for all that Gordon had done for her son. Another source confirms the existence of the letter, but states that it did not reach New York before Gordon died.

He was given a military funeral and was buried in an unmarked grave at Trinity Church Cemetery. At the time of his burial, Bishop Charles Inglis was the Rector of Trinity Church. On 8 March 2022, Trinity Church erected a memorial stanchion in Gordon's honour.

Following Gordon's death, Charles Asgill wrote:

Gordon, who strenuously advocated on Asgill's behalf during the ordeal, suffered greatly from it. Ambrose Vanderpoel writes: "He took Asgill's misfortune keenly to heart, and his health, which previously had been somewhat delicate, was permanently impaired by the anxieties of the summer."