Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Alexander Gordon (1786 – 18 June 1815) was a Scottish officer in the British Army who was killed at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

. His correspondence was collated and published early in the early 21st century.

Life

Gordon was the third son of

George Gordon, Lord Haddo George Gordon, Lord Haddo (28 January 1764 – 2 October 1791) was a Scottish Freemason and the eldest son of George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen. On 18 June 1782, Haddo married Charlotte Baird (d. 8 October 1795) a sister of Sir David Baird, ...

, son of

George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen (19 June 1722 – 13 August 1801), styled Lord Haddo until 1745, was a Scottish peer. He sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish representative peer from 1747 to 1761, and from 1774 to 1790. He was against Will ...

, and Charlotte Baird. His brothers were Prime Minister

George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in f ...

, and

Sir Robert Gordon Sir Robert Gordon (1791 – 8 October 1847) was a British diplomat. Gordon was a younger son of George Gordon, Lord Haddo (himself the eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Aberdeen) and a brother of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen. He was educated at St ...

. He joined the military campaign against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

during the

Battle of Corunna The Battle of Corunna (or ''A Coruña'', ''La Corunna'', ''La Coruña'' or ''La Corogne''), in Spain known as Battle of Elviña, took place on 16 January 1809, when a French corps under Marshal of the Empire Jean de Dieu Soult attacked a Briti ...

in 1808 as the Aide-de-camp to his uncle,

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth, GCB (6 December 1757 – 18 August 1829) was a British Army officer who served in the Anglo-Mysore wars and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Military career He was born at Newbyth Hous ...

. He then became ADC to

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during t ...

for the next six years, until he was killed at Waterloo.

Military

Gordon received brevet promotions to

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

and Lieutenant-Colonel as a reward for carrying to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

despatches announcing victory, first at the

and then at

Ciudad Rodrigo Ciudad Rodrigo () is a small cathedral city in the province of Salamanca (province), Salamanca, in western Spain, with a population in 2016 of 12,896. It is also the seat of a judicial district. The site of Ciudad Rodrigo, perched atop a rocky r ...

. After Bonaparte's exile to

Elba Elba (, ; ) is a Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino on the Italian mainland, and the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. It is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, a ...

in 1814, Gordon was made a KCB. He was mortally wounded at Waterloo while rallying Brunswickers near

La Haye Sainte La Haye Sainte (, , named either after Jesus' crown of thorns or a nearby bramble hedge) is a walled farmhouse compound at the foot of an escarpment near Waterloo, Belgium, on the N5 road connecting Brussels and Charleroi. It has changed very ...

, and died in Wellington's own camp bed in his headquarters during the night. The following is an account by

John Robert Hume John Robert Hume ( 1781–1857) was a Scottish surgeon and physician. He is cited as an example of a 19th-century medical career that arrived at a high position in the profession, without early qualifications. Early life and military service B ...

who was visiting the Duke of Wellington after the Battle of Waterloo, Wellington wrote to Lord Aberdeen after his brother's death,

Bed

The bed in which Gordon died is preserved at the Wellington Museum, Waterloo.

Monument

A monument to Gordon, in the form of a severed column, was erected on the battlefield in 1817.

Bibliography

* "This volume comprises the letters written to his brother, Lord Aberdeen, later foreign secretary, and prime minister during the Crimean war, and Aberdeen’s replies, ... They form an almost continuous narrative of the campaigns, and often reveal more of the thinking behind operations than do the duke’s own despatches".

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Alexander 1786 births 1815 deaths Nobility from Aberdeenshire Military personnel from Aberdeenshire Scots Guards officers Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British military personnel killed in action in the Napoleonic Wars

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

People of the Battle of Waterloo Younger sons of barons