James Gordon

Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB (6 October 1782 – 8 January 1869) was a Royal Navy officer. As a volunteer, he fought at the Battle of Groix, at the Battle of the Glorious First of June and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent during the French Revolutionary Wars and then, as a midshipman, served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile.

Gordon became commanding officer of the 28-gun frigate which took 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 during the Napoleonic Wars. He later became captain of the 38-gun frigate which was one of the four ships that defeated a much larger French squadron at the first Battle of Lissa and was one of three that subsequently defeated three more powerful French frigates off Palagruža.

Gordon also saw action in the War of 1812 leading the successful raid on Alexandria on the Potomac and taking part in the less successful attack on Fort McHenry and the Battle of Baltimore. He went on to be Governor of Greenwich Hospital.

Early career

Born the eldest son of Charles Gordon of Wardhouse, Aberdeenshire, and his wife, a daughter of Major James Mercer, of Auchnacant, Aberdeenshire, Gordon joined the Royal Navy in November 1793. He was assigned to the 74-gun in the Channel Squadron, took part in the blockade of Brest and served under Lord Howe at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in June 1794.

Gordon moved to the 90-gun ship-of-the-line in 1796. He transferred to the 74-gun and served under Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 and, having been promoted to midshipman, he served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 when a crushing defeat was inflicted on the French fleet commanded by François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.

He became captain of the 38-gun frigate at Gibraltar in June 1808 and spent the next three years in operations in the Mediterranean Sea and Adriatic Sea. 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 in March 1811 and she was one of three that defeated three more powerful French frigates off Palagruža in November 1811. He went on to provide logistic support during the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815.

Gordon continued to hold seagoing commands after the cessation of hostilities, becoming commanding officer of the frigate on the Home Station in November 1815 and then of the frigate in October 1816. He rejoined his old command, HMS Active, in 1819 and was again her commanding officer until 1821.

Senior command

Promoted to rear-admiral on 10 January 1837, Gordon became Lieutenant-Governor of the Greenwich Hospital at Greenwich in July 1840. Promoted to vice-admiral on 8 January 1848, he succeeded Sir Charles Adam as Governor of Greenwich Hospital in October 1853. He was promoted to full admiral on 21 January 1854 and, having been advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 5 July 1855, he was promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 30 January 1868.

Death Gordon died at Greenwich Hospital on 8 January 1869 and was buried in the hospital grounds. The grave lies within an enclosed area of surviving graves within the generally cleared graveyard, now forming a pocket park immediately west of the entrance to National Maritime Museum. and a biography by Bryan Perrett argued that his career was the principal model for that of C. S. Forester's hero Horatio Hornblower.

Family In August 1812 Gordon married Lydia Ward; they had seven daughters and one son.