Sir John James Hood Gordon (12 January 1832 – 2 November 1908) was a

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

Early life

Gordon was born on 12 January 1832 in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

and was a twin son of Captain William Gordon (1788–1834) of the 2nd Queen's Royal Regiment. His father had served in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...

and was married at Santarém, in 1818, to Marianna Carlotta Loi Gonçalves de Mello, daughter of Luiz Gonçalves de Mello, a Spanish government official in the province of Estremadura. His father William Gordon was one of the sons of Adam Gordon (1750–1831) of Griamachary in the parish of Kildonan, Dingwall, whose sons and grandsons included thirteen commissioned officers, a Surgeon-General, Huntly George Gordon; and a Lord Advocate and MP,

Edward Gordon, Baron Gordon of Drumearn Edward Strathearn Gordon, Baron Gordon of Drumearn, (10 April 1814 – 21 August 1879) was a Scottish judge and politician. Early life and education Gordon was born on 10 April 1814. He was educated at Inverness Royal Academy, Royal High Sch ...

. He and his twin brother, Sir

Thomas Edward Gordon Sir Thomas Edward Gordon (12 January 1832 – 23 March 1914) was a Scottish soldier, diplomat, and traveller. A British Army officer, he fought in India, served as a diplomat in Tehran, and travelled across the Pamirs. He is primarily remembere ...

, were the youngest children in a family of four sons and a daughter. John was educated at Dalmeny and at the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, Edinburgh. Thomas Edward and John joined the British Army on the same day; both became

s and were knighted.

Army career

With his twin, he entered the

, purchasing a commission in the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot on 21 August 1849 and transferred to 29th Foot in October 1849. The Sikhs-0008

He served in the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

campaign of 1857–8 with the Jaunpur field force, attached to 97th Regiment. He was at the actions of Nasrutpur, Chanda (31 October), Ameerpur, and Sultanpur, at the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

and

capture of Lucknow The Capture of Lucknow (Hindi: लखनऊ का क़ब्ज़ा, ur, ) was a battle of Indian rebellion of 1857. The British recaptured the city of Lucknow which they had abandoned in the previous winter after the relief of a besieg ...

, and storming of the Kaisarbagh. The medal with clasp was awarded him. From September 1858 to April 1859 he acted as field-adjutant to Colonel (Sir) William Turner, commanding the troops on the

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

, near Benares, and the field force during operations in Shahabad. He was engaged in the final attack on Jugdespur, and in the action of Nowadi, and the subsequent pursuit. Mentioned in despatches, he was promoted captain on 2 December 1859, and was made brevet-major on 30 November 1860. Gordon performed regimental duty in India for the next eighteen years; he was promoted major in 1860 and exchanged into the 46th Regiment. Subsequently, he was given the command of the 29th Punjab Infantry, becoming lieutenant-colonel on 21 August 1875, and brevet colonel on 23 February 1877. He served with the

Jowaki Expedition The Jowaki Expedition was a British punitive expedition in India, occurring between 1877 and 1878. It started when the British government in India proposed to reduce the payment of the Jowaki Afridi tribe in the Northwest Frontier. The Jowaki wer ...

in 1877–8, and was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

three times, receiving the

Indian Mutiny Medal __NOTOC__ The Indian Mutiny Medal was a campaign medal approved in August 1858, for officers and men of British and Indian units who served in operations in suppression of the Indian Mutiny. The medal was initially sanctioned for award to troops ...

and clasp. In the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

of 1878-9 he played a prominent part, commanding the 29th Punjabis, attached to the Kurram Valley column. He led a reconnaissance in force at Habib Kila on 28 November 1878, and discovered that the Afghans, so far from abandoning their guns as had been reported, had taken up a strong position on the top of the pass. Gordon's report made Sir Frederick Roberts abandon a frontal attack on the Peiwar Kotal Pass. Gordon's regiment formed the advance guard in the turning movement on the Spingawi Kotal on 2 December. During the night march some Pathans of the 29th Punjab infantry fired signal shots to warn the enemy of the British advance and the regiment was immediately displaced from its leading position. Subsequently, he was engaged in the Zaimukht expedition, including the assault of Zava, where he commanded the right column of General Tytler's force. For his services in the Afghan war he received the Afghanistan Medal with clasp and was made CB in 1879. In expeditions to Karmana and against the Malikshahi Waziris in 1880 he was brigadier-general in command of the troops. He also served in the Mahsud Waziria expedition in 1881, when he commanded the second column; he was again mentioned in despatches and was thanked by the government of India. From 1882 to 1887 he commanded a brigade of the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...

, and was made major-general on 20 December 1886. In the

Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War ( my, တတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် – မြန်မာစစ်, Tatiya Anggalip–Mran cac), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance conti ...

he commanded his brigade (1886–87) and conducted the operations which opened up the country between

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of ...

and Kendat. A road was laid out in 1887 by troops under Gordon to link Manipur with Upper Burma and the

Chindwin River , , image = Homalin aerial.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = The Chindwin at Homalin. The smaller, meandering Uyu River can be seen joining the Chindwin. , map = Irrawaddyrivermap.jpg , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption ...

. He wrote an account "Overland from India to Upper Burma", published in ''The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine'' in February 1889. Returning to the UK, he was made assistant military secretary to the

India Office The India Office was a British government department established in London in 1858 to oversee the administration, through a Viceroy and other officials, of the Provinces of India. These territories comprised most of the modern-day nations of I ...

in 1890, and retained the office until 1896, under Major-General

Oliver Newmarch Major-General Sir Oliver Richardson Newmarch (1834–1920) was a senior British Indian Army officer who served as Military Secretary to the India Office. Military career Born the son of Doctor Newmarch and Violet, daughter of Colonel Sherwood, ...

. He was promoted

lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1891 and full general on 1 April 1894. On 1 January 1897 he was nominated a member of the

Council of India The Council of India was the name given at different times to two separate bodies associated with British rule in India. The original Council of India was established by the Charter Act of 1833 as a council of four formal advisors to the Governo ...

and served for ten years. He was advanced to

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

, and to Knight Grand Cross (GCB) in 1908.

Personal life

He married in 1871 Ella (1846 – 1903), daughter of his cousin

, lord of appeal in ordinary. Both their sons who survived to adulthood, Edward Ian Drumearn Gordon and John Frederick Strathearn Gordon, were army officers; John was killed in the First World War. Gordon wrote and illustrated ''The Sikhs'' (1904). He resided in his last years at 35 Onslow Square, London and Magdala Crescent, Edinburgh. He died at Edinburgh on 2 November 1908; he was buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

there and is commemorated with family members against the original west boundary wall of the cemetery.

References

Attribution: *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, John James Hood 1832 births 1908 deaths 19th-century British Army personnel 29th Regiment of Foot officers 46th Regiment of Foot officers Members of the Council of India British Indian Army generals Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath People from Aberdeen Scottish knights British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Burmese War Scottish twins Burials at the Dean Cemetery British military personnel of the Second Anglo-Afghan War British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Scottish people of Spanish descent