General Charles George Gordon statue, Embankment, London (2)

General Charles George Gordon statue, Embankment, London

A bronze statue of General Charles George Gordon by Hamo Thornycroft stands on a stone plinth in the

Victoria Embankment Gardens The Victoria Embankment Gardens are a series of gardens on the north side of the River Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and Westminster Bridge in London. History Between 1865 and 1870 the northern embankment and sewer was built by Sir Jose ...

in London. It has been Grade II listed since 1970. A similar statue stands at Gordon Reserve, near

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metropol ...

, on its original tall plinth. A different memorial statue by

Edward Onslow Ford Edward Onslow Ford (27 July 1852—23 December 1901) was an English sculptor. Much of Ford's early success came with portrait heads or busts. These were considered extremely refined, showing his subjects at their best and led to him receiving a ...

, depicting Gordon on a camel, stands at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, with another formerly in Khartoum and now at

Gordon's School Gordon's School is a secondary school with academy status in West End near Woking, Surrey, England. It was founded as the Gordon Boys' Home in 1885. It is now one of the 36 state boarding schools in England. It converted to an academy on 1 J ...

near Woking. There are further memorial statues to Gordon in Aberdeen; in Gravesham, where the full length stone statue depicts Gordon in his army uniform with a sabre; and there is a Grade II listed monument to Gordon in Southampton.

Background

Major-General Gordon was lionised as a British war hero after his death at the end of the

Siege of Khartoum The Siege of Khartoum (also known as the Battle of Khartoum or Fall of Khartoum) occurred from 13 March 1884 to 26 January 1885. Mahdist Sudan, Sudanese Mahdist forces captured the city of Khartoum from its Khedivate of Egypt, Egyptian garrison ...

in January 1885. The statue was made in 1887–88. Gordon's brother, Sir Henry Gordon, advised Thornycroft to minimise the military character of the statue, and emphasis Gordon's qualities of strength of mind, love, kindness and affection. The original statue in London was first unveiled in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commem ...

on 16 October 1888 without a formal ceremony. It was sited halfway between the two fountains in Trafalgar Square, standing on a high pedestal. The statue was removed from Trafalgar Square in 1943 and moved to the grounds of

Mentmore Towers Mentmore Towers, historically known simply as "Mentmore", is a 19th-century English country house built between 1852 and 1854 for the Rothschild family in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. Sir Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George ...

in Buckinghamshire. In a speech in the House of Commons speech 5 May 1948, Winston Churchill (then

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

) advocated a return of the statue to its original location. In the event, it was reinstalled on a lower plinth in 1953, about half a mile to the southeast, on the

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfa ...

, between the new Ministry of Defence building and the River Thames, just south of

Horse Guards Avenue Horse Guards Avenue is a road in the City of Westminster, London, linking the major thoroughfares of Whitehall and Victoria Embankment, to the east of the Horse Guards building and parade area. The entrance of the Main Building of the Minist ...

Description of the London statue

The larger than life size statue depicts the British Army officer Charles George Gordon standing in his army uniform, carrying a cane and a bible, with his head resting on his raised right hand, and his left foot resting on a broken cannon. The plinth of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a buildi ...

bears inscriptions and two bronze plaques, one on each side. The main inscription in the stone on the front of the plinth reads: "CHARLES G. GORDON C.B. / MAJOR-GEN. ROYAL ENGINEERS // KILLED AT KHARTOUM / XXVI JANUARY / MDCCCLXXXV". Further inscriptions on the stone plinth list his actions, clockwise from the south front: "CRIMEA 1855 N CHINA 1864 / QUINSAN SOOCHOW / SOUDAN KHARTOUM / GRAVESEND EQUATOR". These inscriptions record his service in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

; at Quinsan and Soochow during the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It last ...

while leading the

Ever Victorious Army "Ever Victorious Army" ( ''cháng shèng jūn'') was the name given to a small imperial army that fought rebels in late-19th-century China. It was directed and trained by Europeans. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing dynasty against th ...

; at

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is th ...

while commanding the Royal Engineers building defences along the River Thames; and in

Equatoria Equatoria is a region of southern South Sudan, along the upper reaches of the White Nile. Originally a province of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, it also contained most of northern parts of present-day Uganda, including Lake Albert and West Nile. It w ...

(southern Sudan), in Soudan and at

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...

. The bronze plaques on either side of the plinth depict pairs of allegorical figures in relief, identified by further stone inscriptions, as "FORTITUDE" (with shield and sword) alongside "FAITH" (hooded), and "CHARITY" (with two children) alongside "JUSTICE" (blindfold, with scales and sword). The shield of Fortitude bears the legend "RIGHT / FEARS NO / MIGHT".

Other statues

An identical statue by Thornycroft was installed in 1889 at Gordon Reserve in

, on the triangle between Macarthur Street and Spring Street to the south of

, facing towards the Old Treasury Building. It still stands on its original tall pedestal, which bears scenes from Gordon's life. A different memorial statue by

, depicting Gordon on a camel, stands at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, the home of the

Royal School of Military Engineering The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Group provides a wide range of training for the British Army and Defence. This includes; Combat Engineers, Carpenters, Chartered Engineers, Musicians, Band Masters, Sniffer Dogs, Veterinary Techni ...

. It became Grade II* listed in 1998. A second cast of Ford's statue of Gordon on a camel was installed in Khartoum from 1904 until 1958. Shortly after Sudan achieved its independence, the statue was removed and reinstalled at

, near Woking, in 1959, where it has a Grade II listing. Further memorial statues to Gordon stand in Aberdeen; in Gravesham, where the full length stone statue depicts Gordon in his army uniform with a sabre; and there is a Grade II listed monument in Southampton. File:General Gordon statue, Embankment, London.jpg, Statue of General Gordon on the Victoria Embankment in London File:London. Trafalgar Square LCCN2017650164.tif, London statue between the fountains in Trafalgar Square, 1890 File:General Charles George Gordon statue.jpg, Statue of General Gordon in

File:Gordon Memorial, New Brompton, England-LCCN2002708002.jpg, Statue at Brompton Barracks, c.1900 File:Statue of General Gordon - geograph.org.uk - 44414.jpg, Statue at Gordon's School, near Chobham, Surrey File:Gordon's Statue (1906) - TIMEA.jpg, Statue in Khartoum, 1906 File:Gordon's Statue, Schoolhill - geograph.org.uk - 115612.jpg, Statue outside Robert Gordon's school, Aberdeen File:General Gordon's Memorial Queen’s Park Southampton.jpg, Memorial to Gordon, Southampton

References

Statue of General Gordon, Victoria Embankment
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
Statue: General Gordon
London Remembers
Maj Gen C G Gordon
Imperial War Museums
Gordon Reserve
Victorian Heritage Database
Memorial to General Gordon, Brompton Barracks
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
Statue of General Gordon, Gordon's School, Woking
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
The story of General Gordon's statue at Gordon's School
16 August 2010
A history of General Gordon's Statue at Gordon's School – March 2011

Statue of General Gordon, Gravesham
National Heritage List for England, Historic England
Monument to General Gordon, Southampton
National Heritage List for England, Historic England * 'Hamo Thornycroft & the Martyr General' by Adam White. Published by The Henry Moore Centre for the Study of Sculpture, 1991, {{Public art in London, portrait sculpture House of Gordon

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

1888 sculptures Victoria Embankment