page_title: James Gordon (Royal Navy officer)
section_title: Early career
hierarchical_section_title: James Gordon (Royal Navy officer) / Early career
caption_attribution_description: English: The Destruction of "L'Orient" at the Battle of the Nile (1st August 1798).
context_page_description: Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB was a Royal Navy officer. As a volunteer, he fought at the Battle of Groix, at the Battle of the Glorious First of June and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent during the French Revolutionary Wars and then, as a midshipman, served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile.
  Gordon became commanding officer of the 28-gun frigate HMS Mercury which took part of a hard-fought action between three British ships and the combined forces of a Spanish convoy, 20 gunboats and land artillery off the town of Rota during the Napoleonic Wars. He later became captain of the 38-gun frigate HMS Active which was one of the four ships that successfully defeated a much larger French squadron at the first Battle of Lissa and was one of three that subsequently defeated three more powerful French frigates off Palagruža.
  Gordon also saw action in the War of 1812 leading the successful raid on Alexandria on the Potomac and taking part in the less successful attack on Fort McHenry and the Battle of Baltimore. He went on to be Governor of Greenwich Hospital.
context_section_description: Born the eldest son of Charles Gordon of Wardhouse, Aberdeenshire, and his wife, a daughter of Major James Mercer, of Auchnacant, Aberdeenshire, Gordon joined the Royal Navy in November 1793. He was assigned to the 74-gun HMS Arrogant in the Channel Squadron, took part in the blockade of Brest and served under Lord Howe at the Battle of the Glorious First of June in June 1794. He spent time on harbour duty in the 74-gun HMS Invincible, in the 74-gun HMS Ramillies, the 74-gun HMS Defence and finally the 24-gun HMS Eurydice during 1794. He transferred to the frigate HMS Révolutionnaire in 1795 and served under Admiral Lord Bridport at the Battle of Groix in June 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars.
  Gordon moved to the 90-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Namur in 1796. He transferred to the 74-gun HMS Goliath and served under Sir John Jervis at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in February 1797 and, having been promoted to midshipman, he served under Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798 when a crushing defeat was inflicted on the French fleet commanded by François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers. He became second lieutenant of the sloop Bordelais in January 1800 and, while escorting a convoy to the West Indies, fought an action with three French brigs, capturing one in January 1801. In the Caribbean later that year Gordon, on an independent mission, was captured by the Haitian government of Toussaint Louverture and spent four months in prison before being released by cartel. He was made first lieutenant of the 18-gun brig HMS Racoon in 1802 and returned to the West Indies. Racoon's capture of the French corvette Lodi in July 1803 led to Gordon's appointment as commanding officer of HMS Raccoon in October 1803 and his promotion to commander on 2 March 1804.
caption: The Battle of the Nile at which Gordon was present as a volunteer
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