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THE LIFE OF GORDON
MAJOR-GENERAL, R.E., C.B.; TURKISH FIELD-MARSHAL, GRAND
CORDON MEDJIDIEH, AND PASHA; CHINESE TITU (FIELD-MARSHAL),
YELLOW JACKET ORDER.
"_'Tis a name which ne'er hath been dishonour'd,
And never will, I trust--most surely never
By such a youth as thou._"
--SWINTON ON ADAM GORDON.
by
DEMETRIUS C. BOULGER
Author of "The History of China;" "England and Russia in Central
Asia;" "Lord William Bentinck," Etc., Etc.
With Portrait
VOLUME I
London
T. Fisher Unwin
Paternoster Square
MDCCCXCVI
[All rights reserved.]
[Illustration: GENERAL GORDON
A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN SHORTLY AFTER THE CRIMEA AND LENT BY HIS NIECE,
MISS DUNLOP.]
PREFACE.
As so many books of a more or less biographical nature have been
written about General Charles Gordon, it is both appropriate and
natural that I should preface the following pages with a statement of
a personal character as to how and why I have written another.
In the year 1881 I told General Gordon that I contemplated describing
his career as soon as I had finished writing my "History of China."
His laughing reply was: "You know I shall never read it, but you can
have all my papers now in the possession of my brother, Sir Henry
Gordon." My history took a very long time to write, and the third
volume was not published until April 1884, when General Gordon was
hemmed in, to use his own words, at Khartoum.
For over two years General Gordon's papers and letters remained in my
custody, and they included the Equator and Soudan correspondence,
which was so admirably edited by Dr Birkbeck Hill in that intensely
interesting volume, "Colonel Gordon in Central Africa." The papers
relating to China and the Taeping Rebellion were freely used in my
history. To them I have the privilege of adding in the present volume
an authoritative narrative of the events that followed the execution
of the Taeping Wangs at Soochow, and of thus rendering tardy justice
to the part taken in them by Sir Halliday Macartney. Among the
contents of the large portmanteau in which all these documents were
stored, I noticed a thick bundle of letters, in somewhat faded
handwriting, and an examination of their contents showed me that they
were of the deepest interest as relating to the important events of
the Crimean War, and to the first seven years of Gordon's service in
the Army. I at once went to Sir Henry Gordon, who honoured me with his
friendship and confidence in no less a degree than his distinguished
and ever-lamented brother, and begged of him permission to publish
them. He at once gave his consent, which was ratified by the late Miss
Augusta Gordon, the hero's favourite sister. The letters appeared in
July 1884, under the title of "General Gordon's Letters from the
Crimea, the Danube, and Armenia." In the proper place I have told what
Kinglake, the historian of the war, thought of them and their author.
In the rush of books that followed the fall of Khartoum, no favourable
opportunity for carrying out my original purpose presented itself;
and, indeed, I may say that the anonymous biographical work I
performed during the course of the year 1885 would have filled a
large-sized volume. Moreover, the terrible events of the fall of
Khartoum, and the failure of the relieving expedition, were too close
at hand to allow of a just view being taken of them, and it was
necessary to defer an intention which I never abandoned. It seemed to
me that the tenth anniversary of the fall of Khartoum would be an
appropriate occasion for the appearance of a Life claiming to give a
complete view and final verdict on the remarkable career and character
of the man, with whom his own friendly inclination had made me
exceptionally well acquainted.
In 1893, therefore, I began to take steps to carry out my project, and
to the notification of my intention and the application for assistance
in regard to unpublished papers, I received from several of the
principal representatives of the Gordon family encouraging replies.
But at this time both Sir Henry Gordon and Miss Gordon were dead, and
I discovered that the latter had bound her literary executrix, Miss
Dunlop, a niece of General Gordon's, by a promise not to divulge the
bulk of the unpublished papers during her lifetime. I am happy to
say, however, that Miss Dunlop, without accepting any responsibility
for what I have written, has with the greatest possible kindness read
these pages, and assisted me to attain complete accuracy in the facts,
so far as they relate to family and personal matters, but excluding
altogether from her purview all military and political topics. For
that co-operation, unfortunately restricted by the condition of the
promise to Miss Gordon, I avail myself of this opportunity to express
my grateful thanks; and I am also indebted to Miss Dunlop for the
youthful unpublished portrait of Gordon which forms the frontispiece
of this volume, and also for that of the house in which he was born.
When I was first confronted with the difficulty that the unpublished
papers would not be accessible to me, I contemplated the abandonment
of my task; but a brief consideration made me conclude that, even
without these documents, I had special knowledge, derived from Sir
Henry Gordon and many other sources, that would enable me to deal with
all the more important passages of General Gordon's life. The result
must be judged from the Life itself; but I have not sought to make any
partisan attack on anyone, although, when I have felt compelled to
criticise and censure, I have done so with a full sense of
responsibility as well as with reluctance. I may be pardoned the
confidence I express when I say that I am sure nothing in the
unpublished documents will affect the main conclusions to which I have
come on the Khartoum mission, its inception and disastrous close.
I am permitted by the courtesy of the proprietors of _The Times_ to
reproduce in these pages the several articles and letters which
originally appeared in the columns of that paper.
It is a personal matter, of no interest except to myself, but I should
like to state that the work would have been out much sooner but for a
long and serious illness.
DEMETRIUS C. BOULGER
_29th August 1896._
CONTENTS.
VOLUME I.
CHAP. PAGE
I. BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE 1
II. THE CRIMEA, DANUBE, AND ARMENIA 16
III. THE CHINA WAR 45
IV. THE TAEPING REBELLION 61
V. THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY 78
VI. GRAVESEND AND GALATZ 127
VII. THE FIRST NILE MISSION 141
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PORTRAIT OF GENERAL GORDON, TAKEN SOON AFTER THE CRIMEA _Frontispiece_
HOUSE IN WHICH GENERAL GORDON WAS BORN _To face page_ 16
THE LIFE OF GORDON.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE.
Charles George Gordon was born on 28th January 1833, at No. 1 Kemp
Terrace, Woolwich Common, where his father, an officer in the Royal
Artillery, was quartered at the time. The picture given elsewhere of
this house will specially interest the reader as the birthplace of
Gordon. It still stands, as described by Gordon's father in a private
memoir, at the corner of Jackson's Lane, on Woolwich Common.
The name "Gordon" has baffled the etymologists, for there is every
reason to believe that the not inappropriate connection with the
Danish word for a spear is due to a felicitous fancy rather than to
any substantial reality. There is far more justification for the
opinion that the name comes through a French source than from a
Danish. The Gorduni were a leading clan of Caesar's most formidable
opponents, the Nervi; a Duke Gordon charged among the peers of
Charlemagne; and the name is not unknown at the present day in the
Tyrol. The "Gordium" of Phrygia and the "Gordonia" of Macedonia are
also names that suggest an Eastern rather than a Northern origin.
History strengthens this supposition and entirely disposes of the
Danish hypothesis. The first bearer of the name Gordon appeared in
Scotland at far too near a date to the Danish descents upon that
country to encourage the view that he was a member of that most
bitterly hated race. Nowhere were the Danes more hated or less
successful than in Scotland, yet we are asked to believe that the
founder of one of the most powerful families in that kingdom belonged
to this alien and detested people. The silence itself of the
chronicler sufficiently refutes the idea that the first Gordon was a
renegade or a traitor, as he must have been if he were a Dane.
In all probability the first Gordon, who helped Malcolm Canmore, and
received in return a large grant of lands in Berwick, which became
known as the Gordon country, was one of the many Norman knights
attracted to the Court of Edward the Confessor. Accepting for the
occasion the popular legendary version of Shakespeare, rather than the
corrected account of modern historians, he may be supposed to have
found his way north to the camp of Siward, where the youthful and
exiled Scotch Prince had sought shelter from Macbeth, and it is no
undue stretch of fancy to suggest that he took his part in the
memorable overthrow of that usurper at Dunsinane, and thus obtained
the favour of his successor. The growth of the Gordon family in place
and power was rapid. To the lands on the borders was soon added the
Huntly country on Deeside, where Aboyne Castle now stands, and in a
very short period the Gordons ranked among the most powerful and
warlike clans of Scotland. As Sir Walter Scott wrote of Adam Gordon,
in words which might be appropriately applied to the subject of this
biography:
"'Tis a name which ne'er hath been dishonour'd,
And never will, I trust--most surely never
By such a youth as thou!"
Be its remote origin what it may, no name has appeared more
prominently or more honourably in the British Army Lists during the
last century and a half than that of Gordon. One of the most famous of
our regiments bears and has nobly upheld the name. In honourable and
friendly rivalry with the equally numerous and equally distinguished
clans of Grant and Cameron, the Gordons have figured on every
battlefield from Minden to Candahar, thus establishing at the same
time the political wisdom of Chatham, who first turned the Highlanders
from a cause of danger into a source of strength, and the military
ardour and genius of their own race. Thus it came to pass that the
spirit of remote warlike ages was perpetuated, and that the profession
of arms continued to be the most natural one for any bearer of the
name Gordon. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the
practice of his nearest relations, as well as the traditions of his
race, marked out Charles Gordon for a soldier's career.
Passing over an uncertain connection with the General Peter Gordon,
who rose high in the Russian service under Peter the Great, the
nearest direct ancestor of whom we can speak with absolute confidence
was Charles Gordon's great-grandfather David Gordon, who served as a
lieutenant in Lascelles' regiment of foot--afterwards the 47th
Regiment--at the battle of Prestonpans. Although the majority of the
clans were still loyal to the Stuarts, it seems from this that some of
them had entered the Hanoverian service probably in that most
distinguished regiment, the First Royal Scots, which a few years
before Culloden had fought gallantly at Fontenoy. At Prestonpans David
Gordon had the bad fortune to be made prisoner by the forces of
Charles Edward, and he found on the victorious side the whole of the
Gordon clan, under the command of Sir William Gordon of Park, a
younger son of the Earl of Huntly. As he was able to claim kindred
with Sir William, David Gordon received better treatment than he might
have expected, and in a short time was allowed to go free, either on
an exchange of prisoners or more probably on his parole. This incident
is specially interesting, because, after making every allowance for
the remoteness and vagueness of the old Highland custom of cousinship,
it seems to bring Charles Gordon's ancestry into sufficiently close
relationship with the main Gordon stem of the Huntlys. After his
release David Gordon does not appear to have taken any further part in
the war which terminated at Culloden, and he emigrated shortly
afterwards to North America, where his death is recorded as having
taken place at a comparatively early age at Halifax in the year 1752.
That he came of gentle blood is also proved by the fact that the Duke
of Cumberland stood sponsor to his son, who bore the Duke's names of
William Augustus. This second Gordon, of the particular branch that
has interest for us, also entered the army, and held a commission in
several regiments. The most memorable event in his life was his taking
part in Wolfe's decisive victory on the heights of Abraham. In 1773 he
married a lady, Miss Anna Maria Clarke, whose brother was rector of
Hexham in Northumberland, and by her had a family of four daughters
and three sons. Of the latter, two died at an early age, and only the
youngest, William Henry, born in 1786, survived to manhood. He is
especially interesting to us, because he was the father of General
Gordon.
Like his father and grandfather, William Henry Gordon chose the
profession of a soldier, and entered the Royal Artillery. He saw a
great deal of active service, being with his corps in the Peninsula
and at Maida, commanding at a later period the Artillery at Corfu and
Gibraltar, and attaining before his death in 1865 the rank of
Lieutenant-General. He was also connected with the Woolwich Arsenal as
Director of the Carriage Department. He has been described as an
excellent officer if a somewhat strict disciplinarian, and his firm
character of noble integrity lived again in his sons. He married, in
1817, Elizabeth, the daughter of Samuel Enderby, a merchant whaler,
one of those west country worthies who carried on the traditions of
Elizabeth to the age of Victoria. It would not be possible to present
a complete picture of Gordon's mother, and therefore none will be
attempted here; but all the available evidence agrees in describing
her as a paragon of women, and as having exercised an exceptional
influence over her children. Gordon himself bore the most expressive
testimony to her virtues and memory when, long years afterwards, he
closed an exordium on the filial affection due to a mother with the
outburst--"Oh! how my mother loved me!"
Such in brief were the forebears of the hero who comes next after
Nelson in national veneration. To understand him and his career, it
must be remembered that he came of a gallant race, with a quick sense
of honour, seeing clearly the obvious course of duty, and never
hesitating in its fulfilment. These qualities were not peculiar to the
man, but inherited from his race, and as they had never been
contaminated by the pursuit of wealth in any form, they retained the
pristine vigour and fire of a chivalrous and noble age. What was
personal and peculiar to Charles Gordon had to be evolved by
circumstance and the important occurrences with which it was his lot
to be associated throughout his military and public career, but his
soldierly talent and virtue must be mainly assigned to the traditions
and practice of his ancestors.
Of the five sons of General William Henry Gordon and Elizabeth
Enderby, Charles George Gordon was the fourth. His eldest brother,
Henry William Gordon, born in 1818, had entered the army, first in the
8th Regiment, and transferred in a short time to the 59th, when, at
the early age of ten, Charles Gordon was sent off to school at
Taunton. The selection of this school in the western country was due
to the head-master, Mr Rogers, being a brother of a governess in the
Gordon family. Little is known of his early childhood beyond the fact
that he had lived, before he was ten, at Corfu, where his father held
a command for some years. The Duke of Cambridge has publicly stated
that he recollects, when quartered at Corfu at this period, having
seen a bright and intelligent boy who occupied the room next to his
own, and who subsequently became General Gordon. At Taunton Gordon
remained during the greater part of five years, enjoying the
advantages of one of the most excellent grammar schools in the West of
England, and although he failed to make any special mark as a scholar,
I find that, whether on account of his later fame or for some special
characteristic that marked him out from the general run of boys, his
name is still remembered there by something more than the initials cut
upon his desk. If he distinguished himself in anything it was in
map-making and drawing, and he exhibited the same qualifications to
the end of his career. How careful and excellent the grounding at
Taunton school must have been was shown by the fact that, after one
year's special coaching at Mr Jefferies' school at Shooter's Hill,
Gordon passed direct into the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. It
is noteworthy that during the whole of the period we are now
approaching, he never showed the least tendency to extravagance, and
his main anxiety seems to have been to save his parents all possible
expense, more especially because they had a large family of daughters.
To the end of his life, and in each successive post, Gordon was the
slave of duty. At this time, and during the years that follow, down to
the Chinese campaigns, his guiding thought was how to save his family
the smallest expense on his account, and yet at the same time to hold
his head high, and to show himself worthy of his race.
Gordon entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1848, when he
had not completed his sixteenth year, and during the four years he
remained there he gave some evidence of the qualities that
subsequently distinguished him, at the same time that he showed a
lightness of disposition which many will think at strange variance
with the gravity and even solemnity of his later years. Among his
fellow-students he was not distinguished by any special or exclusive
devotion to study. He was certainly no bookworm, and he was known
rather for his love of sport and boisterous high spirits than for
attention to his lessons or for a high place in his class. More than
once he was involved in affairs that, if excusable and natural on the
score of youth, trenched beyond the borders of discipline, and the
stories of life at the Academy that he recited for many years after he
left were not exactly in harmony with the popular idea of the ascetic
of Mount Carmel.
As the reader treasures up the boyish escapades of Nelson and Clive,
so will enduring interest be felt in those outbreaks of the boy
Gordon, which made him the terror of his superiors. They are recorded
on the unimpeachable evidence of his elder brother, and some of them
were even narrated by Gordon himself to his niece nearly thirty years
after they happened. Sir Henry is the writer.
"Charles Gordon with a brother (William Augustus) more unruly
than himself, finding the time hang heavily upon their hands
during the vacation, employed themselves in various ways. Their
father's house (at Woolwich) was opposite to that of the
Commandant of the Garrison, and was overrun with mice. These were
caught, the Commandant's door quietly opened, and the mice were
transferred to new quarters. In after life (that is in 1879, when
in the Soudan) Charles Gordon wrote to one of his nieces: 'I am
glad to hear the race of true Gordons is not extinct. Do you not
regret the Arsenal and its delights? You never, any of you, made
a proper use of the Arsenal workmen as we did. They used to
neglect their work for our orders, and turned out some splendid
squirts--articles that would wet you through in a minute. As for
the crossbows we had made, they were grand with screws. One
Sunday afternoon twenty-seven panes of glass were broken in the
large storehouses. They were found to have been perforated with a
small hole (ventilation), and Captain Soady nearly escaped a
premature death; a screw passed his head, and was as if it had
been screwed into the wall which it had entered. Servants were
kept at the door with continual bell-ringings. Your uncle Freddy
(a younger brother) was pushed into houses, the bell rung, and
the door held to prevent escape. Those were the days of the
Arsenal.'"
Sir Henry continues:
"But what Charles Gordon considered as his greatest achievement
was one that he in after years often alluded to. At this time
(1848) the senior class of Cadets, then called the Practical
Class, were located in the Royal Arsenal, and in front of their
halls of study there were earthworks upon which they were
practised from time to time in profiling and other matters. The
ins and outs of these works were thoroughly well known to Charles
Gordon and his brother, who stole out at night--but we will leave
him to tell his own story. He says: 'I forgot to tell----of how
when Colonel John Travers of the Hill Folk (he lived on Shooter's
Hill) was lecturing to the Arsenal Cadets in the evening, a crash
was heard, and every one thought every pane of glass was broken;
small shot had been thrown. However, it was a very serious
affair, for like the upsetting of a hive, the Cadets came out,
and only darkness, speed, and knowledge of the fieldworks thrown
up near the lecture-room enabled us to escape. That was before I
entered the curriculum. The culprits were known afterwards, and
for some time avoided the vicinity of the Cadets. I remember it
with horror to this day, for no mercy would have been shown by
the Pussies, as the Cadets were called.'"
After he entered the Academy the same love of fun and practical joking
characterised him. Sir Henry writes: "After he had been some time at
the Academy and earned many good-conduct badges, an occasion arose
when it became necessary to restrain the Cadets in leaving the
dining-hall, the approach to which was by a narrow staircase. At the
top of this staircase stood the senior corporal, with outstretched
arms, facing the body of Cadets. This was too much for Charlie Gordon,
who, putting his head down, butted with it, and catching the officer
in the pit of the stomach not only sent him down the stairs, but
through the glass door beyond. The officer jumped up unhurt, and
Gordon was placed in confinement and nearly dismissed.
"Upon another occasion, when he was near his commission, a great deal
of bullying was going on, and in order to repress it a number of the
last comers were questioned, when one of them said that Charlie Gordon
had on one occasion hit him on the head with a clothesbrush. The lad
admitted it was not a severe blow; nevertheless Charlie Gordon was for
this slight offence put back six months for his commission, which
turned out well in the end, since it secured for him a second
lieutenancy in the Royal Engineers in place of the Royal Artillery."
This alteration in the branch of the service to which he was attached
was due to his own act. He decided that, as his contemporaries would
be put ahead of him, he would work for the Engineers instead of the
Artillery.
Even to the end of his life there were two sides to his character.
Private grief, much disappointment, and a long solitary existence,
contributed to make him a melancholy philosopher, and a sometimes
austere critic of a selfish world, but beneath this crust were a
genial and generous disposition that did not disdain the lighter side
of human nature, a heart too full of kindness to cherish wrath for
long, and an almost boyish love of fun that could scarcely be
repressed. If this was the individual in his quieter and contemplative
moods, an energy that never tired, and a warlike spirit that only
needed the occasion to blaze forth, revealed the man of action. It may
be pronounced a paradox to say so, but to the end of his life the true
Gordon was more of the soldier than the saint.
Even in the midst of his escapades at the Academy, something of the
spirit of the future hero revealed itself. However grave the offence
or heavy the punishment, he was never backward in taking his share--or
more than his share--of the blame for any scrape into which he and his
friends were brought by their excessive high spirits. On more than one
occasion his ardour and sense of justice resulted in his being made
the scapegoat of worse offenders, and it seems probable that he
generally bore more than his proper share of the blame and punishment
for acts of insubordination. But there were limits to his capacity of
suffering and sense of guilt, and when one of his superiors declared
that he "would never make an officer," he touched a point of honour,
and Gordon's vigorous and expressive reply was to tear the epaulettes
from his shoulder and throw them at his superior's feet. In this
incident the reader will not fail to see a touch and forecast of
greatness. He was ever willing to pay the penalty of youthful
indiscretion, but he was sensitive to the reproach of honour, and his
exuberant spirits detracted in no respect from his sense of the
nobility of his profession. His earnestness saved him from the
frivolity into which a light heart and good health might have led him,
and compensated for his disinclination to devote all his spare time to
the severer studies of his college.
On June 23rd, 1852, nearly four years after he entered the Royal
Military Academy, Charles Gordon passed out with the rank of second
lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. Notwithstanding some remissness in
his work, he had passed through all his examinations--"Those terrible
examinations," as he said long years afterwards--"how I remember them!
Sometimes I dream of them,"--and in accordance with the regulations in
force he was sent to Chatham for the purpose of completing there his
technical training as an engineer officer. Chatham, as is well known,
is the Headquarters of the Royal Engineer Corps, to which it stands in
the same relation as Woolwich to the Artillery. There Gordon remained
until February 1854, constantly engaged on field work and in making
plans and surveys, at which his old skill as a draughtsman soon made
him exceptionally competent. This kind of work was also far more
congenial to him than the cramming at the Academy, and he soon gained
the reputation of being an intelligent and hard-working subaltern. In
the month named he attained the grade of full lieutenant, and on
taking his step he was at once ordered to Pembroke Dock, then one of
the busiest naval depots and most important military arsenals in the
country. The war clouds were already lowering over Eastern Europe, and
although all hope of maintaining peace had not been abandoned,
arrangements were in progress for the despatch, if necessary, of a
strong naval and military expedition to the Black Sea.
At Pembroke, Gordon was at once employed on the construction of the
new fortifications and batteries considered necessary for the defence
of so important a position, and in one of his letters home he wrote:
"I have been very busy in doing plans for another fort, to be built at
the entrance of the haven. I pity the officers and men who will have
to live in these forts, as they are in the most desolate places, seven
miles from any town, and fifteen from any conveyance." Seclusion and
solitude had evidently no charms for him at that period. In another
letter about this time he wrote expressing his relief at being "free
from the temptations of a line regiment," and concluded with the
self-depreciatory remark that he was "such a miserable wretch that he
was sure to be led away." In yet another letter from Pembroke, written
not many weeks after his arrival, he reveals something of the deep
religious feeling which was no doubt greatly strengthened by his
experiences in the Crimea, and which became stronger and more
pronounced as years went on. In writing to his favourite sister in the
summer of 1854, he gives the following interesting bit of biographical
information: "You know I never was confirmed. When I was a cadet I
thought it was a useless sin, as I did not intend to alter (not that
it was in my power to be converted when I chose). I, however, took my
first sacrament on Easter Day (16th April 1854) and have communed ever
since."
Charles Gordon was still occupied on the Pembroke fortifications when
war broke out with Russia on the Eastern Question. His father was at
the time stationed at Gibraltar in command of the Royal Artillery, and
was never employed nearer the scene of hostilities during the war. But
his two elder brothers were at the front--the eldest, the late Sir
Henry Gordon, at Balaclava, where he served in the Commissariat, and
the next brother, the late General Enderby Gordon, with his battery
under Lord Raglan. At the battle of the Alma, fought on 20th September
1854, Enderby Gordon specially distinguished himself, for he worked
one of the two guns of Turner's Battery, which exercised such a
decisive influence on the fortunes of the day. Readers of Kinglake's
"History" will remember that it was the flank fire of these two guns
which compelled the Russian battery of sixteen guns on the Causeway to
retire and thus expose the Russian front to our attack. It is a little
curious to find that while one brother was thus distinguishing himself
in the first battle of the war, another was writing from Pembroke Dock
as follows: "---- says there were no artillery engaged in the battle
of the Alma, so that Enderby was safe out of that." Enderby Gordon
also distinguished himself at Inkerman, where he acted as aide-de-camp
to General Strangeways. He subsequently earned the reputation of a
good officer during the Indian Mutiny, and when he died he had, like
his father, attained the rank of Lieutenant-General, and received
besides the Companionship of the Bath. One characteristic incident has
been recorded of him. As he commanded a column in India, he had only
to ask for promotion to obtain it; this he declined to do, because he
would thus have stepped over a friend.
In General Gordon's own letters from the Crimea there are frequent
references to his eldest brother, Henry Gordon, a man of whom it may
be said here that the best was never publicly known, for during a long
and varied career, first in the combative branch of the army as an
officer of the 59th Regiment, and then as a non-combative officer in
the Ordnance Department, he showed much ability, but had few
opportunities of special distinction. In several of General Gordon's
transactions Sir Henry was closely mixed up, especially with the Congo
mission; and I should like to say, of my own knowledge, that he was
thoroughly in sympathy with all his projects for the suppression of
the slave trade, had mastered the voluminous Blue Books and official
papers, from the time of Ismail to the dark days of Khartoum, in so
thorough a manner that the smallest detail was fixed in his brain, and
had so completely assimilated his brother's views that an hour's
consultation with him was almost as fertile a source of inspiration
as it would have been with the General himself. I believe that the
original cause of Sir Henry's influence over his brother was that he
disclaimed having any, and that he most carefully avoided any attempt
to force his advice on his younger brother, as so many of our elders
deem to be their right and prerogative. General Gordon was a bad
listener to advice at any time or from anyone. He acted almost
entirely on his own judgment, and still more on his own impulse. His
first thoughts were his best thoughts, or, perhaps, as Tennyson says,
"his third thoughts, which are a maturer first." Sir Henry knew the
ingrained and unalterable character of his brother, and adapted
himself to it, partly through affection and partly through admiration,
for in his eyes Charles Gordon was the truest of heroes. No man ever
possessed a truer or more solicitous friend than General Gordon found
in him. Sir Henry was thoroughly devoted to him and his interests, and
carried out all his wishes and instructions to the very letter.
Having said this much about the relations between Gordon and his
brother, it would be an inexcusable omission to pass over the still
more striking sympathy and affection that united him with his sisters.
From his first appointment into the service he corresponded on
religious and serious subjects with his elder sister, the late Miss
Gordon, who only survived her brother a few years, with remarkable
regularity, and as time went on the correspondence became more, rather
than less constant, and in his letters to her were to be found his
most secret thoughts and aspirations. Most of the letters from the
Crimea were addressed to his mother; but, in an interesting volume
published in 1888, Miss Gordon presented the world with the remainder
of her brother's letters, spread over thirty active and eventful
years. One of General Gordon's most cherished objects, resembling in
that, as in other respects, Lord Lawrence, was to add to the comfort
of his sisters, and when he left England on his last fatal mission to
Egypt, his will, made the night before he left for Brussels, provided
that all he possessed should be held in trust for the benefit of his
well-beloved sister, Mary Augusta, and that it was to pass only on her
death to the heirs he therein designated. It is not necessary to enter
into fuller particulars on this subject, but it may be proper to say
that his affection for his other sisters was not less warm or less
reciprocated. Of his six sisters, of whom two alone survive, it is
only necessary to refer here (in addition to Miss Gordon) to the
youngest, who married Dr Andrew Moffitt, who was not merely head
medical officer with the Ever Victorious Army, but Gordon's right-hand
man in China. Dr Moffitt was a man of high courage; on one occasion he
saved Gordon's life when a Taeping attempted to murder him in his
tent, and an English officer, who served with the Force, has described
him in these two lines: "He was imbued with the same spirit as his
future brother-in-law; he was a clever Chinese scholar and an A1
surgeon." Dr Moffitt, who received a gold medal and order, besides the
Red Button of a Mandarin, from the Chinese Government for his
brilliant services against the Taepings, died prematurely. To say less
about these family relations would be an omission; to say more would
be an intrusion, and they may be left with the reflection that as no
one who knew him will dispute the depth and the strength of General
Gordon's sentiments as a friend, his feelings towards the members of
his own family cannot well be impugned.
Some account of the personal appearance of General Gordon will be
deemed necessary, and may be appropriately given at this stage,
although the subject is a dangerous one, because so very few people
form the same impression about any one's appearance. There has been
much discussion as to General Gordon's exact height, and I have been
to much pains to obtain some decisive evidence on the subject.
Unfortunately no such records as to height, etc., are kept about
officers, and my search proved fruitless, more especially as the
records at Woolwich for the period required were destroyed by fire
some years ago. The best evidence I have obtained is that of General
Gordon's tailors, Messrs Batten & Sons, of Southampton, who write: "We
consider, by measurements in our books, that General Gordon was 5 ft.
9 in." As he had contracted a slight stoop, or, more correctly
speaking, carried his head thrown forward, he looked in later life
much less than his real height. The quotations at the end of this
chapter will show some difference of opinion. His figure was very
slight, but his nervous energy could never be repressed, and he was
probably stronger than his appearance suggested. The suggestion of
delicate health in his look and aspect, arising, as he was led to
believe, but erroneously, from _angina pectoris_, or some mysterious
chest pain, may have induced a belief that he was not robust, but this
seems to have been baseless, because throughout his life, whether in
the trenches of Sebastopol, the marshes of the Yangtse delta, or the
arid plains of the Soudan, he appears to have equally enjoyed
excellent health.
The only specific mention of serious illness was during his stay in
the Soudan as Governor-General, when the chest pains became acute.
These were at length traced to an enlarged liver, and perhaps the
complaint was aggravated by excessive smoking. In the desert, far
removed from medical aid, he obtained much relief from the use of
Warburg's Tincture.
In his ordinary moods there was nothing striking about the face. The
colour of the eye was too light--yet the glance was as keen as a
rapier, and, as the little Soudan boy Capsune, whom he had educated,
said, "Gordon's eyes looked you through and through"--the features
were not sufficiently marked, the carriage of the man was too
diffident and modest to arrest or detain attention, and the
explanation of the universal badness of the numerous photographs taken
of him at all stages of his career is probably to be found in the
deficiency of colouring and contrast. Everything in his appearance
depended on expression, and expression generally baffles the
photographer. Perhaps the least objectionable of all these
portraitures is the steel plate in Dr Birkbeck Hill's volume on
"Gordon in Central Africa," and that not because it is a faithful
likeness, but because it represents a bust that might well be imagined
to belong to a hero. It was only when some great idea or some subject
in which he was interested seized his imagination that one could
perceive that the square jaw denoted unshakable resolution, and that
the pale blue eye could flash with the fire of a born leader of men.
In tranquil moments no one would have been struck by a casual glance
at his face, but these were rare, for in congenial company, and with
persons he trusted, Gordon was never tranquil, pacing up and down the
room, with only brief stops to impress a point on his listener by
holding his arm for a few seconds, and looking at him intently to see
if he followed with understanding and interest the drift of his
remarks, lighting cigarette after cigarette to enable him to curb his
own impetuosity, and demonstrating in every act and phrase the truth
of his own words that "inaction was intolerable to him." Such was the
man as I recall him on the all too few occasions when it was my
privilege and good fortune to receive him during his brief visits to
London of late years, and to hear from him his confidential views on
the questions in which he took so deep an interest. One final remark
must be hazarded about the most remarkable point after all in General
Gordon's personality. I refer to his voice. It was singularly sweet,
and for a man modulated in a very low tone, but there was nothing
womanish about it, as was the case with his able contemporary Sir
Bartle Frere, whose voice was distinctly feminine in its timbre. I
know of no other way to describe it than to say that it seemed to me
to express the thorough and transparent goodness of the speaker, and
the exquisite gentleness of his nature. If angels speak with the human
voice, Gordon's tone must have borne affinity to theirs.
In completing this subject it may be appropriate to quote a few of the
more important and interesting descriptions of his personal
appearance, contributed by those who had opportunities of seeing him.
An officer, who served with General Gordon in China, describes his
first interview with him in the following words:--
"C---- introduced me to a light-built, active, wiry, middle-sized
man of about thirty-two years of age, in the undress uniform of
the Royal Engineers. The countenance bore a pleasant frank
appearance, eyes light blue, with a fearless look in them, hair
crisp and inclined to curl, conversation short and decided. This
was Major C. G. Gordon."
General Sir Gerald Graham who, to use his own words, was Gordon's
"school-fellow at Woolwich, his comrade in the Crimea and China, and
for many years past a more or less regular correspondent," has put on
record the following interesting description of the hero, and it
should not be forgotten that, excepting his companion, Colonel Donald
Stewart, and Mr Power, General Graham was the last Englishman to see
General Gordon in this world.
"Not over 5 feet 9 inches in height, but of compact build, his
figure and gait characteristically expressed resolution and
strength. His face, although in itself unpretending, was one that
in the common phrase 'grew upon you.' Time had not streaked with
grey the crisp, curly brown hair of his youth and traced lines of
care on his ample forehead and strong clear face, bronzed with
exposure to the tropical sun. His usual aspect was serene and
quiet, and although at times a ruffling wave of uncontrollable
impatience or indignation might pass over him, it did not disturb
him long. The depth and largeness of Gordon's nature, which
inspired so much confidence in others, seemed to afford him a
sense of inner repose, so that outer disturbance was to him like
the wind that ruffles the surface of the sea, but does not affect
its depths. The force and beauty of Gordon's whole expression
came from within, and as it were irradiated the man, the steady,
truthful gaze of the blue-grey eyes seeming a direct appeal from
the upright spirit within. Gordon's usual manner charmed by its
simple, unaffected courtesy, but although utterly devoid of
self-importance he had plenty of quiet dignity, or even of
imperious authority at command when required. With his friends he
had a fund of innocent gaiety that seemed to spring from his
impulsiveness, while his strong sense of humour often enabled him
to relieve his impatience or indignation by a good-natured
sarcasm."
Two further descriptions by men who served under him at Gravesend in
the interval between the Taeping War and the first mission to the
Soudan will suffice to complete the personal impressions that may help
the reader to form some idea of the appearance of General Gordon. The
first is from the pen of Mr W. E. Lilley, who brought out a special
volume on Gordon at Gravesend.
"In Colonel Gordon's appearance there was nothing particularly
striking. He was rather under the average height, of slight
proportions, and with little of the military bearing in his
carriage, so that one would hardly have imagined that this
kindly, unassuming gentleman was already one who had attracted
the notice of his superiors by his courage and zeal in the
Crimean War, and who had won lasting renown by subduing in China
one of the greatest revolts the world had ever seen. This last
exploit had gained for him the name by which he was from that
time best known, viz. "Chinese Gordon." The greatest
characteristic of his countenance was the clear blue eye, which
seemed to have a magical power over all who came within its
influence. It read you through and through; it made it impossible
for you to tell him anything but the truth, it inspired your
confidence, it kindled with compassion at any story of distress,
and it sparkled with good humour at anything really funny or
witty. From its glance you knew at once that at any risk he would
keep his promise, that you might trust him with anything and
everything, and that he would stand by you if all other friends
deserted you."
The other impression, formed under precisely the same circumstances,
is that of Mr Arthur Stannard, recorded in the _Nineteenth Century_ of
April 1885.
"The next moment I was looking into Chinese Gordon's eyes. What
eyes they were! Keen and clear, filled with the beauty of
holiness, bright with an unnatural brightness, their expression
one of settled feverishness, the colour blue-grey as is the sky
on a bitter March morning. In spite of the beautiful goodness of
his heart and the great breadth of his charity, Gordon was far
from possessing a placid temperament or from being patient over
small things. Indeed his very energy and his single-mindedness
tended to make him impatient and irritable whenever any person or
thing interfered with his intentions or desires.... For a man of
his small stature his activity was marvellous--he seemed able to
walk every one else off their legs over rough ground or
smooth.... In Gordon strength and weakness were most
fantastically mingled. There was no trace of timidity in his
composition. He had a most powerful will. When his mind was made
up on a matter it never seemed to occur to him that there could
be anything more to say about it. Such was his superb confidence
in himself!"
When Gordon had been only a few months at Pembroke Dock he received
orders to proceed to Corfu, and believing it to be due to his father's
request, he wrote: "I suspect you used your influence to have me sent
there instead of to the Crimea. It is a great shame of you." But the
Fates were to be stronger than any private influence, for four days
after he wrote those lines he received fresh orders directing him to
leave for the Crimea without delay in charge of huts. It seems that
the change in his destination was due to Sir John Burgoyne, to whom he
had expressed the strongest wish to proceed to the scene of war. On
4th December 1854, he received his orders at Pembroke, on the 6th he
reported himself at the War Office, and in the evening of the same day
he was at Portsmouth. It was at first intended that he should go out
in a collier, but he obtained permission to proceed _via_ Marseilles,
which he pronounced "extremely lucky, as I am such a bad sailor." This
opinion was somewhat qualified later on when he found that the
Government did not prepay his passage, and he expressed the opinion
pretty freely, in which most people would concur, that "it is very
hard not to give us anything before starting." He left London on the
14th December, Marseilles in a French hired transport on the 18th, and
reached Constantinople the day after Christmas Day. He was not much
struck with anything he saw; pronounced Athens "very ugly and dirty,"
and the country around uncommonly barren; and was disappointed with
the far-famed view on approaching Constantinople. The professional
instinct displayed itself when he declared that the forts of the
Dardanelles did not appear to be very strong, as, although numerous,
they were open at the rear and overlooked by the heights behind. On
28th December Gordon left Constantinople in the _Golden Fleece_
transport conveying the 39th Regiment to Balaclava. The important huts
had not yet arrived in the collier from Portsmouth, but they could not
be far behind, and Gordon went on in advance. The huts, it may be
added, were built to contain twenty-four men, or two captains and four
subalterns, or two field-officers or one general, and the number of
these entrusted to the charge of Gordon was 320. These reinforcements
were the first sent out to mitigate the hardships the British Army
underwent during a campaign that the genius of Todleben and the
fortitude of his courageous garrison rendered far more protracted and
costly than had been anticipated.
[Illustration: THE HOUSE IN WHICH GENERAL GORDON WAS BORN, ON
WOOLWICH COMMON.]