The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-28 00:00:00

THE GOVERNORSHIP OF GREENWICH

HOSPITAL.

The navy and the public will receive with high
satisfaction the intelligence of the promotion of Sir
James A. Gordon, the Lieutenant-Governor of
Greenwich Hospital, to the office of Governor,
vacant by the death of the late Sir Charles Adam.
Few officers in the English navy have been so for-
tunate as to earn so many honourable distinctions
as Sir James Gordon. He was midshipman of the
Revolutionnaire in Bridport's action, served a
St. Vincent and the Nile, and wound up his
active service in 1814 by commanding a small
squadron which ascended the Potomac and obtained
possession of the city of Alexandria. The records
of his services as a frigate captain throughout the
war with France are too familiar to all who have
rea• the annals of the British navy to need repetition
hue. He was captain of the Active in the action off
Lissa, and at the capture of the French frigate
Pomone, in which he lost a leg. He has been nine
times gazettecl. Independently of his great and
splendid services at sea, there is obvious justice in
appointing the second officer of the hospital to the
post vacant by the death of his senior. The pro-
motion is as honourable to the Minister who could
recognise and reward such long and honourable
service as to the new Governor of Greenwich Hos-

It was reported yesterday in select circles that
the vacant appointment of Governor of Greenwich
Hospital had already been given away, and that
the noble Premier, the Earl of Aberdeen, had inti-
mated to Sir James Gordon, the present lieutenant
governor, in a very complimentary letter, that he
had selected him for the place.
We believe this report to be c)rrect, and that the
gallant officer received yesterday at Whitehall the
congratulations of the Admiralty in town.
Well, we have done our duty to the service, and
we have no doubt that the Earl of Aberdeen feels
conscious that he has done his duty to the country
in preferring Sir James Gordon, K.C.8., to•his
seniors, the Earl of Dundonald, G.C.8., and Sir
Wm. Parker, G.C.B. Doubtless the fact that Sir
James had been the lieutenant-governor so long
had great weight with the Premier, and it was
looked upon as a succession promotion earned by
service in the second position at the Royal Hospi-
tal. We still believe, however, that the navy gene-
rally will take a different view of the matter, and
will not accept this selection either as a matter of
justice to the service or to the individual who has
received the appointment. They will remember that
Sir Jas. Gordon wag allowed to waive his turn for
promotion, in order that he might keep his appoint-
ment, and they will not now consider it fair to
the distinguished seniors of the navy that Sir Jas.
Gordon, without any other claims for service than
what he acquired as a captain, should now jump
from 800/. a-year, with his half-pay as a rear-
admiral, to 1,500/. a-year, with his half-pay as a
vice-admiral, with house, stores, &c. Thus, Sir
James, who has not served afloat for 20 years, will
by this step have his emoluments increased from
800/. salary, 300/. a-year pension, and 4561. half-
pay—total, 1,5561. per annum, to! 1,500/. salary,
300/. pension, and 593/. half-pay—total, 2,3931.
per annum—twice as much as admiral of the fleet,
and, taking the perquisites into account, house,
allowances, &c., almost as much as a port admiral,
more than the commander-in-chief of the Coast of
Africa, and just as much as the commmanders in
chief in tho East Indies, West Indies, and Medi-
terranean, including their allowances for table-
money.

We have already said that Sir Jas. Gordon's ser-
vice claims, as published by our contemporary, were
inferior to those of the Earl of Dundonald and Sir
W. Parker ; for in addition to their services as
captains, both the latter admirals have served on
foreign stations as commanders in chief, which Sir
James Gordon has not ; but to do both the Earl of
Dundonald and Sir James Gordon justice, we ap-
pend the epitome of their services as recorded by
rne.—Morning _Herald.

SERVICES OF REAR-ADMIRAL SIR JAS. GORDON, K.C.B.
Sir James Gordon is the eldest son of the late
Charles Gordon, Esq., of Wardhouse, county
Aberdeen, by a daughter of the late Major James
Mercer, of Auchnacant, in the same shire.
" He entered the navy, Nov. .25, 1793, as cap-
tain's servant, on board, the Arrogant, 74, Captain
James Hawkins Whitshed, employed on the home
station ; where, and in the Mediterranean, he after-
wards served, part of the time as midshipman, in
the Invincible, Ramillies' and Defence, 74's, Cap-
tains Hon. Thos. Pakenham, Sir Richard Bickerton,
and Thos. Wells ; Eurydice and Revolutionnaire, fri-
gates, both commanded (the latter in Bridport's action)
by Capt. Fres. Cole ; Namur, 93, Capt. J. H. Whit-
shed ; Goliath, 74, Capt. Thos. Foley (one of the victo-
rious fleet in the battle off Cape St. Vincent, Feb. 14,
1797) ; and Royal William, flag-ship of Admiral Mil-
bunko. Being promoted to a lieutenant, Jan. 27, 1800,
in Le Bourdelais' of 24 guns and 195 men, Captains
Thos. Manby and John Hayes, he particularly signalised
lihnself in that ship, on Jan. 26, 1801, at the capture,
after a close cannonade of half an hour, of the French
national brig La Curieuse, of 18 guns and 168 men,
about CO of whom were killed and wounded, while the
British only sustained a loss cf 1 man killed and 7
wounded. Towards the end of 1802, Mr. Gordon be-
came first liaW_en:lnt of the Racoon, 18, Captains Wil-
son Rathborne and Austin Bissell; by the latter of
whom we find his conduct on many occasions described
as highly exemplary and praiseworthy, but especially
lauded in a very warm action of 40 minutes, which, on
the 11th of July, 1803, led to the capture, in Leogane
Roads, of the French corvette Le Lodi, of 10 guns
and 61 men. Succeeding Captain Bissell, March 3,
1804, in the command of the Racoon, Captain Gordon
had the good fortune, during his continuance in that
sloop, to make prize of many of the enemy's vessels, and,
among others, of the French national transport, L'Argo,
of 6 guns and 30 men, and the privateers L'Aventure, of
1 gun and 28 men, and L'Alliance, of 6 guns and 68 men.
Ho was posted, May 16, 1805, into the Diligentia,
afterwards Legera, employed, as was the Racoon,
on the Jamaica station, but resigned the command in a
few months, and was next appointed, June 18, 1807, to
the Mercury, 28. After visiting Newfoundland with
convoy, he proceeded off Cadiz, where, in company with
the Alceste, 3S, and Grasshopper, 18, he took a distin-
guished part, April 40808, in an action of two hours
and a half, which terrnitiated in the defeat, under the
batteries of Rota, and in the teeth of 11 French and
Spanish line-of-battle ships, of 20 of the enemy's gun-
boats, having a fleet of merchantmen under their charge.
During a subsequent command, from June 27, 1808, to
June 11, 1312, of the Active, of 46 guns and 300 men,
Captain Gordon, whose prompt and zealous co-operation
in the different services on which he was employed ap-
pears to have raised his name to a high pitch, planned
several cutting-out affairs, and on the occasion of one
which took place at Ortano, Feb. 12, 1811, won the par-
ticular thanks of Captain Henry Whitby, his senior
officer, for the judicious manner in which he placed his
ship and prevented any body of the enemy from form-
ing in the rear of the men detached on the expedition.
On March 13, in the same year, he had the fortune to
render himself conspicuous by his valour in the memo-
rable action off Lisbon, when the Active and three
other frigates, carrying in the whole 156 guns and 879
men, completely routed, after a conflict of six hours, and
a loss to the former 4 killed and 24 wounded, a Franco-
Venetian armament, whose force amounted to 284 guns
and 2,655 men. A few months subsequent to the lat-
ter event, Nov. 29, the Active, whose complement
had been reduced to about 21S men, again distin-
guished herself in becoming the captor of La Pomone, of
44 guns and 332 men, 50 of whom were killed and
wounded. The British did net sustain a loss of more than
8 killed and 27 wounded ; among the latter of whom,
however, was the gallant Captain Gordon himself, an
officer whose merits,' as expressed by Captain Murray
Maxwell, of the Alceste, who had witnessed the action,
and been simultaneously engaged with La Pauline, ano-
ther of the enemy's frigates, are known to his country
and who lives in the hearts of all who have the happiness
to know him.' A 36-pounder took his leg clean off,
just at the knee-joint, while he was standing on a shot-
rack, and leaning on the capstan. Captain Gordon's
next appointment was Sept. 14, 1812, to the Seahorse,
38, in which frigate,-after cruising some time in the
Channel, making a voyage also to South America, and
effecting the destruction, Nov. 13, 1813, of Le Subitile,
privateer, of 17 efnii`efiil 72 men, he joined Sir Alex.
Cochrane in the Chesapeake. On August 17, 1814,
Captain Gordon, with a squadron under his orders, con-
sisting, besides the Seahorse, of the Euryalus, 36, De-
vastation, 'Etna, and Meteor bombs, Erebus, rocket-
vessel, and Anna Maria, tender, entered the river
Potomac. After ten days of unequalled labour, during
which the British were constantly impeded by shoals
and contrary winds, and every ship in the squadron
grounded not less than twenty times, they reached and
attacked Fort Washington ; the which, together with a
battery on the beach, a martello tower, and a battery
in the rear, containing in the whole 21 heavy cannon
and 6 field-pieces, fell into their possession. The City of
Alexandria, having thus lost its only defence, was, on
the next day, the 29th, forced to capitulate on the most
humiliating terms. On the 31st, the conquerors, ani-
mated with tLe success they had encountered, retired
in charge of 21 of the enemy's vessels, laden with all
kinds of merchandise ; the whole of which they brought
down in triumph, notwithstanding that the Ameri-
, cans, to the natural difficulties with which their
invaders had previously had to contend, now added all
the obstacles that the most determined spirit of oppo-

sition could suggest. The loss endured by the squadron,
fortunately did not exceed 7 killed and 35 wounded ;
yet some idea of the operations may be formed when it
is asserted that during the 23 days they lasted the ham.
mocks of the men were down but for two nights. The
issue, indeed, of the enterprise was stated by Sir Alei.
Cochrane to have surpassed his most sanguine expecta-
tions. Captain Gordon afterwards accompanied the ex-
pedition against New Orleans, and throughout all its de-
tails afforded, as officially recorded, his unwearied and
cheerful assistance to Rear Admiral Poulteney Malcolm.
The importance of his services met a just reward, on
Jan. 2, 1815, by the conferrence upon him of the K.C.B.
His after appointments were—Nov. 7, 1815, and Oct.
24, 1816, to the Madagascar and Mmander frigates, the
latter of which was all but lost off Orfordness, in Dec.,
1816 ; Jan. 11, 1819, to the Active, 46, employed on
the Halifax and Mediterranean stations ; and in July,
1832, to the superintendentship of Chatham Dockyard,
where he remained with his name part of the time on the
books of the Chatham yacht, until his promotion to flag.
rank, Jan. 10, 1837. He has been lieutenant governor
since July 1, 1840, of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich.
Sir James Alexander Gordon was presented by the
Board of Admiralty, in 1812, with a gold medal, de-
scriptive of the action off Lissa, to be worn with his
uniform in the usual manner; and he has been in the
receipt, since July 31 in that year, of a pension of 3001.
In 1817 he was presented with the freedom of Aber-
deen. He married, Aug. 27, 1812, the youngest daugh-
ter of John Ward, Esq., of Marlborough, Wiltshire,
by whom he had issue a son, the late Commander J. A.
Gordon, R.N."