Admiral Charles Gordon,
CB (1781 – 3 October 1860) was an officer of the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
during the nineteenth century. Gordon's most notable action was the
action of 18 September 1810, when he was seriously wounded in battle and his frigate
HMS ''Ceylon'' captured by the French frigate
''Vénus''. Gordon was recaptured by Commodore
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, (1765 – 10 January 1842), known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was an Anglo-Irish naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in ...
the following day and later took part in the capture of
Île de France. This was the second occasion on which Gordon had been captured, but he had also distinguished himself in operations against
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
pirates in the
campaign of 1809 and was flag captain at the capture of Île de France in December 1810. His later career was unremarkable, although he eventually rose to become an admiral and was made a
Companion of the Order of the Bath before his death in 1860.
Gordon was the third son of Robert Francis Grant-Gordon and Mary Aston, daughter of
Sir Willoughby Aston, 5th Baronet. He was the younger brother of Sir
James Willoughby Gordon
General Sir James Willoughby Gordon, 1st Baronet (21 October 1772 – 4 January 1851) was a general officer in the British Army. He notably served as most long-standing Quartermaster-General to the Forces, holding the position for some 40 years.
...
, who was created a baronet and Rear-Admiral Henry Gordon, who was twice mayor of
Bath.
Military career
Charles Gordon joined the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
in June 1796 as a
midshipman and by later advanced to become a
commander in the
sloop ''St Lucia''. In 1807 he was captured but was exchanged soon afterwards and made a
post captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.
The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:
* Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) addressed as captain ...
in command of
HMS ''Caroline'', which he commanded in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
, operating against pirates in the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...
during the
campaign of 1809: At
Ras al-Khaymah in November 1809, ''Caroline'' destroyed or captured 80 pirate vessels. Shortly after the operations in the Persian Gulf, Gordon took command of the Indian-built frigate
HMS ''Ceylon'' and continued operating in the Indian Ocean, based at
Madras.
In September 1810, word reached Madras that the British force that was blockading the French island of
Île de France had been destroyed at the
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Isle de France (now Mau ...
and its commander
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet, (1765 – 10 January 1842), known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was an Anglo-Irish naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in ...
was in desperate need of reinforcement. Sailing south to join Rowley, ''Ceylon'' visited
Port Napoleon on Île de France in the hope of meeting Rowley there. Instead he found the large French frigate
''Vénus'' and the
corvette ''Iéna'' under the command of Commodore
Jacques Hamelin. The French ships chased ''Ceylon'' westwards towards
Île Bourbon and caught her on 17 September within sight of
Saint Denis. In a series of bitterly contested engagements during the night, ''Ceylon'' was battered and defeated, the badly wounded Gordon surrendering to Hamelin, but only after inflicting significant damage to his flagship. Gordon was taken aboard the French ship and was thus freed when Rowley chased and captured Hamelin's ship on 18 September. At the eventual court martial into his conduct in the action, Gordon was honourably acquitted.
[James, p. 307–313]
Although badly wounded in the action, Gordon was made captain of
HMS ''Africaine'', which later served as Admiral
Albemarle Bertie's flagship in the successful invasion of Île de France. In the aftermath of the campaign, Gordon was sent back to Britain and despite living another 50 years and remaining in the Navy throughout, he never again served at sea.
[''Annual Register'', 1860, p. 441–442] He was appointed a
Companion of the Order of the Bath and gradually rose through the retired ranks, becoming a vice-admiral in 1853, and a full admiral prior to his death in October 1860 aged 79.
Personal life
Gordon married Anne Blayney, daughter of Lt.-Gen.
Lord Blayney in 1818.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Charles
1780s births
1860 deaths
Royal Navy admirals
Companions of the Order of the Bath
English people of Scottish descent
Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars
People from Bath, Somerset