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Thomas Gordon | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Gordon | |
| Born | c. 1788 |
| Died | 20 April 1841 Cairness House, Aberdeenshire |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom First Hellenic Republic Kingdom of Greece |
| Branch | British Army Hellenic Army |
| Rank | Colonel (Hellenic Army) |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Grand Commander of theOrder of the Redeemer |
Major-GeneralThomas Gordon (1788 – 20 April 1841) was a British army officer and historian. He is remembered for his role in theGreek War of Independence in the 1820s and 1830s and hisHistory of the war published in 1832.
He was born atCairness House to Charles Gordon of Buthlaw and Cairness inLonmay,Aberdeenshire and his wife Christian, née Forbes of Ballogie. He was educated atEton College andBrasenose College,Oxford.
From 1808 to 1810 he served in theScots Greys. In May 1810 he left service in theBritish Army for travel and on 26 August was well received inIoannina byAli Pasha, local governor for theOttoman Empire. Between 1810 and 1812, his travels includedAthens,Constantinople,Thessaloniki as well as parts ofAnatolia,Persia andBarbary.
In 1813, he served as acaptain on the staff of theRussian Army, and in November 1813 was in the army ofCount von Walmoden at Pretzer inMecklenburg. Early in 1814, he returned to his seat ofCairness House until 1815 when he went abroad again to Constantinople, where he married Barbara Kana (afterwardsBaroness de Sedaiges).
Gordon returned toGreece in 1821 at the commencement of theGreek War of Independence. He served through the campaign of 1821 inMorea (thePeloponnese) aschef d’état major underDemetrios Ypsilantis. He took part in the siege ofTripolitsa. After the capture, he strongly protested against the massacre by the Greeks of several thousand Turks there. On being ignored, he retired for a time from service.
In November 1822, the provisional Greek government atHermione sent a letter asking him to return to them. He declined but joined the Greek committee inLondon (formed 8 March 1823) and contributed money and military supplies. He refused the committee's invitation to go to Greece as one of three commissioners in charge of stores and funds stating that the Greeks were unwilling to submit to European discipline. As a committee member, he strongly supported the appointment ofGeorge Byron, 6th Baron Byron.
Early in 1824, a Greek deputation raised a loan in London and again unsuccessfully asked Gordon to return. In 1826, renewed representations from Greece and the Greek deputies in London persuaded him to return to promote unity and military discipline. He reachedNafplion in May 1826 and found that bitter dissentions among the Greeks had quenched even their animosity against the Turks. He was well received and arrived in time to prevent the disbanding of the regular corps.
Towards the end of June,Rumeliots forced the government to seize $10,000 from Gordon to give to theSouliotKapetanioi fromEpirus. By the end of 1826, Gordon had spent all the public funds which the Greek deputies in London had entrusted to him.
In 1827, Gordon accepted the command of the expedition toPiraeus, with the rank ofbrigadier, his troops consisting of the corps ofIoannis Notaras, that ofIoannis Makrygiannis, the regulars, and the foreign volunteers. His aim was to relieve Athens, which was being blockaded. Gordon successfully landed his troops atFaliro "under the nose ofReshid Pasha”.
Having found that the Greeks besieged in theAcropolis were still able to hold out, Gordon wished to resign and only continued on condition of receiving supplies and being "entirely master of his own operations". He remained in command of the troops at Faliro until the arrival in April of GeneralRichard Church, who took over the supreme command.
On 16 April 1827, Church appointed Gordondirector-general of the army. He probably continued to serve in this capacity until the Greek defeat of 6 May. Nevertheless, continued resistance, the success of theBattle of Navarino, and the backing ofFrance, theRussian Empire and theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland enabled theFirst Hellenic Republic to emerge with a northern frontier fromArta toVolos, but withoutCrete orSamos. In July 1827, Gordon returned toScotland.
Gordon returned to Greece in 1828. While atArgos from 1828 to 1831 with his secretary James Robertson and the historianGeorge Finlay, he worked on the site of the ruinedHeraeum nearArgos. Archaeological plans also included a proposal to form a joint stock company for the purchase ofEpidaurus. Finlay also suggested that he might be president of the Greek national assembly, but Gordon had no such ambitions.
While at Argos, Gordon collected both written and oral material for a history of the Greek revolution. He also built a magnificent mansion which was modelled onCairness House although smaller. He returned to Cairness in 1831 and completed his book in 1832. It was acclaimed for its detail and accuracy.
With the arrival ofPrince Otto of Wittelsbach as the newKing of Greece, Gordon returned to Greece in 1833 and was commissionedcolonel in theHellenic Army. His campaigns that year included rooting out brigands inAetolia andAcarnania, who were supported by Turks across the border. Gordon spoke theTurkish language fluently, to the astonishment of local pashas, and this was of considerable value in negotiations. He was also appointed the president of the military court set up to try the rebels in theMessenian disturbances.
Due to poor health, Gordon resigned his commission in February 1839 and returned to Cairness, although he made another short visit to Greece in 1840.
Gordon died at Cairness and was survived by his wife. He had no issue with her and in his will left most of his estate, including a largeslave plantation inJamaica, to an illegitimate son called James Wilkinson, who later took the surname Gordon. His existence seems to have been a secret from the rest of the family as he had been brought up by a tutor inElgin. The inheritance caused much scandal and led to a long period of litigation within the family. Thomas Gordon's historical library and manuscripts were sold in March 1850, and his antiquities in the following June, although some items remained at Cairness House until 1938, after the last of the Gordons sold the estate.
Gordon was awarded various honours, including being made Grand Commander of theOrder of the Redeemer by the Greeks on his retirement.He was a member of many learned societies including theRoyal Society (1821), theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland (1828), and theRoyal Asiatic Society (1834), and in Greece the Society for Natural History (1837) and the Archaeological Society (1840).
