Lord Lewis Gordon (22 December 1724 – 15 June 1754) was a Scottish nobleman, naval officer and
Jacobite, remembered largely for participating in the
Jacobite rising of 1745
The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...
, during which
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...
appointed him
Lord-lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...
of
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
and
Banffshire
Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...
.
During the rising Gordon and his agents raised a large number of men, often through
impressment
Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...
, from the estates of his brother the
Duke of Gordon
The title Duke of Gordon has been created once in the Peerage of Scotland and again in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The Dukedom, named after the Clan Gordon, was first created for the 4th Marquess of Huntly, who on 3 November 1684 was c ...
: the north-eastern counties ultimately provided up to 24% of the
Jacobite army's rank and file. After the failure of the campaign he escaped to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, dying at
Montreuil in 1754.
Life
Gordon was the fourth son of
Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon
General Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon (c. 167828 November 1728), styled Earl of Enzie until 1684 and the Marquess of Huntly from 1684 to 1716, was a Scottish Jacobite peer.
Gordon was the son of George Gordon, 1st Duke of Gordon and ...
, and Lady Henrietta Mordaunt, daughter of
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough
Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth, (1658 – 25 October 1735) was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole h ...
. As a younger son, he used 'Lord' as a
courtesy title
A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title).
In some co ...
. His father, as Marquis of Huntly, had fought on the Jacobite side in the
1715 rising, but later obtained a government pardon.
Taking service in 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 F ...
, he was commissioned Lieutenant in 1744, serving on
HMS ''Dunkirk''.
1745 Rising
Gordon was serving with the Mediterranean Fleet when he abruptly deserted his post in May 1745; this coincided with Charles Stuart putting in motion his plans for a Scottish rising. Gordon made his way to Scotland and on 16 October 1745 swore allegiance to Charles at
Holyrood.
The anonymous contemporary author of ''Memoirs of the Rebellion in Aberdeen and Banff'', probably Rev. John Bissett, commented that Gordon "met so many old friends and acquaintances engaged in the rebellion, who all laid oars in the water to gain him; and this indeed was no hard matter to a forward young lad like him, especially as he was to have a Feather in his cap, and to be made Lord Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire and Governor of the towns of Aberdeen and Banff".
[Blaikie, Walter Biggar (1916) ''Origins of the 'forty-five, and other papers relating to that rising'', Scottish History Society, p.128] However, his Jacobite adherence may at least in part have been as proxy for his brother
Cosmo George Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon
Cosmo George Gordon, 3rd Duke of Gordon KT (27 April 1720 – 5 August 1752), styled Marquess of Huntly until 1728, was a Scottish peer.
Life
Gordon was the son of the 2nd Duke of Gordon and was named after his father's close Jacobite friend ...
, one of the largest landowners in Scotland; several leading families took similar actions during the 1745 rising in order to maintain influence with both sides.
[Lenman, Bruce (1980) ''The Jacobite Risings in Britain'', Methuen, p.255] Gordon's widowed mother was certainly aware of his plans to join Charles, and gave her approval.
[Tayler, Henrietta (ed) (1930) ''Jacobite Letters to Lord Pitsligo 1745-46'', Milne & Hutchison, p.58] His brother the Duke claimed to be indisposed by illness, and did not issue an order expressly forbidding his tenants to join the rebellion until November.
Lord Lewis Gordon's Regiment
Charles made Gordon a member of his 'Council of War' before sending him north to raise men from the Gordon family estates.
[Aikman, Christian (ed) (2012) ''No Quarter Given: The Muster Roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart's Army'', N Wilson, p.129] Tenants in this area of Scotland still held their land under the feudal obligation of vassalage, which included an expectation of military service on demand. Gordon was an effective recruiter, though his methods have been characterised as "drastic":
[ Alexander MacDonald, then with the Jacobite army in ]Musselburgh
Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of .
History
The name Musselburgh is Ol ...
, wrote to his father in October 1745 that Gordon was "putting in to prisson icall who are not willing to Rise."[Alexander MacDonald to Angus McDonnell of Leek, 31 October 1745, SPS.54/26/122/1] He briefly experimented with quartering Highlanders on those who refused, but then moved on to threats of burning property; Bissett noted that the firing of one house in a district "soon had the desired effect".[Reid, Stuart (1996) ''1745: A military history of the last Jacobite Rising'', Spellmount, p.200]
Further conscription was handled by the Duke of Gordon's factors or tacksmen, who often used similar methods. Early in the rising John Gordon of Glenbucket raised a regiment by impressment of Gordon tenants in Banffshire and western Aberdeenshire. An additional unit known as the 'Enzie' battalion was raised by John Hamilton of Sandistoun, the Duke of Gordon's factor in the Huntly area, and another of the Duke's wealthier tenants, David Tulloch of Dunbennan; it joined the main army at Edinburgh on 4 October.[Seton, Sir Bruce Gordon (1928) ''The Prisoners of the '45'', vol. I, Constable, p.311]
The bulk of Lord Lewis Gordon's own regiment was raised in three battalions: the 'Aberdeen' battalion, mainly volunteers from Aberdeen itself led by James Moir of Stonywood; the 'Strathbogie' battalion, unwilling feudal levies under John Gordon of Avochie; and the 'Mar' battalion, mostly Highlanders raised by Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie in Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of .
The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' prop ...
and upper Deeside.[Reid, Stuart (2012) ''The Scottish Jacobite Army 1745-1746'', Bloomsbury, p.18] Gordon's regiment ultimately became one of the largest in the Jacobite army with a complement of over 800 men.
With his regiment up to strength, Gordon organised the defence of Aberdeen before moving against the government's Independent Highland Companies under the Lord Macleod. He nominally led one column of Jacobite troops and Avochie another, though in reality it appears that active command was delegated to Major Cuthbert, brother of the laird of Castlehill and a regular in the French '' Royal-Ecossais'', who "did all the business".[Blaikie (1916) p.140]
Cuthbert and Gordon scattered MacLeod's force at the Battle of Inverurie on 23 December 1745. Linking up with Lord John Drummond, Gordon marched to Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and joined the main army of the insurgents. His regiment was present at Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
in January, where the Jacobites won a confused tactical victory against Hawley's government army.
At the Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden (; gd, Blàr Chùil Lodair) was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force under Prince Wi ...
in April 1746 Gordon's regiment was positioned with the Jacobite reserve; along with the Franco-Irish troopers of Fitzjames' Horse it helped repel an attempt to encircle the Jacobite right, taking heavy casualties in the process.[ After the Jacobite defeat the regiment withdrew in good order under Avochie to Ruthven Barracks before dispersing. Lewis Gordon was supposed to have hidden at Balbithan House for several months before taking a ship at ]Peterhead
Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...
and escaping to France.
After 1745
Gordon's name was included in the Act of Attainder passed after the rebellion by the government. In 1747 the French envoy d’Éguilles submitted a 'memorandum' or report on the 1745 rising to the French government, including an assessment of its leaders: he was sharply critical of most other than Lochiel and his brother, but allowed that Lewis Gordon was "full of courage and ambition".[McLynn, Frank. "An Eighteenth-Century Scots Republic? An Unlikely Project from Absolutist France" in ''The Scottish Historical Review''
Vol. 59, No. 168, Part 2 (Oct., 1980), p.179]
In 1749 he was one of six prominent Scots appointed to a commission sitting in Paris to examine the claims of Scottish refugees to financial assistance from King Louis XV; the same year a French government memo recorded that Gordon was barely on speaking terms with Charles, suffered from attacks of vertigo, and was "often disturbed".[ A British report of 1752 identified him as one of a number of Jacobite exiles who had recently been in Scotland undetected.][Zimmerman, Doron (2003) ''The Jacobite Movement in Scotland and in Exile, 1746-1759'', p.234]
He is said to have "exhibited symptoms of insanity, and to have mutilated himself"["The Gordons of Huntly", ''The Spectator'', 23 September 1869, 1059] before his death in France on 15 June 1754. One source suggests he left a wife and daughter, but nothing further is known of them.[Tayler (1948) ''A Jacobite Miscellany'', Roxburghe Club, p.184]
His name was remembered in Scotland in a popular Jacobite air, "Lewie Gordon"; James Hogg
James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...
identified its author as the Catholic theologian Alexander Geddes (1737–1802).
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Lewis
1724 births
1754 deaths
Scottish Jacobites
Jacobite military personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745
Younger sons of dukes
Royal Navy officers
People from Huntly
Deserters