Joseph Maria Gordon

Infobox Military Person
name=Joseph Maria Gordon
lived= 1856 - 1929


caption=General Joseph M Gordon
nickname=
placeofbirth=Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
placeofdeath=England
allegiance= British Empire
branch= Army
serviceyears=1874 - 1914
rank=Major General
unit=
commands=Chief of the General Staff
battles=Second Boer War
awards=Companion of the Order of the Bath
relations=
laterwork= Instructor, Policeman
Major General Joseph Maria Gordon CB (18 March, 1856 - 6 September, 1929), brigadier-general in the British army. Born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, the son of Carlos Pedro Gordon, of Scottish descent, and Elena Maria Prendergast, of Irish descent.

Biography

He was born in Jerez de la Frontera, in southern Spain, and Spanish was his mother tongue but at age 7 his family returned to Scotland when his father inherited the family estates. He then learnt to speak English but he had an accent for many years, if not the rest of his life. He grew up in Great Britain where he attended the artillery and engineering military academy at Woolwich (which later disappeared in 1939 after merging with Sandhurst)

At that time, while still a cadet, he met the future King of Spain, Prince Alfonso, who was in exile, attending the military school at Sandhurst. Prince Alfonso was proclaimed King of Spain in December 1874 and received the news while he was dining with Gordon in London. During that time Spain was engaged in a civil war, the Third Carlist War, and Gordon told Prince Alfonso that he had made plans to travel to northern Spain and join his enemy Carlos, Duke of Madrid with the object of gaining military experience. Prince Alfonso told Gordon that he could give him a letter of recommendation so he could join the royalist army but Gordon declined.

So Prince Alfonso traveled to Spain to be crowned king and, simultaneously, Gordon traveled to northern Spain on his own and joined the staff of the pretender don Carlos with whom he participated as observer in several battles favorable to the Carlists. He then returned to Woolwich to complete his military studies.

In short time, Prince Alfonso was king of Spain and don Carlos was in exile in London, staying in the same hotel where Prince Alfonso had stayed and in the company of the same Gordon.

After he obtained his commission, Gordon was stationed in Ireland but after two years he resigned due to ill health and traveled to New Zealand with the hope of improving his health.

He unsuccessfully tried to publish a newspaper, merchant and acting and then joined the police force in Adelaide, Australia. He then joined the Australian military as an instructor and went on to a successful military career, mainly in Australia but which also took him back to England and to South Africa where he participated in the Second Boer War.

In 1892 he married Eileen Fitzgerald and they had two children, Eileen and Carlos.

He retired in 1914 and he published his autobiography in 1921. He died in England in 1929 due to cancer.

Military career

1874 - Joined artillery military academy at Woolwich.
1876 - Commissioned Lieutenant, Royal Artillery.
1881 - Police instructor, South Australia.
1882 - Staff Instructor, Military Forces, South Australia.
- id. - Lieutenant commanding South Australian Artillery.
1883 - Captain.
1885 - Major.
1892 - Lieutenant Colonel on the Staff.
- id. - Acting Commandant.
1893 - Colonel on the Staff.
- id. - Commandant, South Australian Military Forces.
1896 - Reappointed Commandant under new Defense Act.
1898 - Inspector of Stores and Military Adviser for Australian Colonies in England.
1899 - Returned to South Australia, Commandant
- id. - Special Service Officer, South African War.
1900 - Colonel, Imperial Land Forces.
- id. - Chief Staff Officer to all Overseas Colonial Forces, on the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Roberts.
- id. - Commanded a Mounted Column, South Africa.
- id. - Brigadier General, Adelaide.
1901 - Companion of the most Honorable Order of the Bath.
1902 - Commandant of the State of Victoria.
1905 - Commandant of the State of New South Wales.
1912 - Chief of the General Staff, Commonwealth Military Forces, and First Member of the Military Board of Control, Australia.
1914 - Retired owing to age limit as an honorary Major General.

Bibliography

*" The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon", Brig. General J. M. Gordon, C.B., Cassell and Co. Ltd., London 1921
*"Gordon, Joseph Maria (1856 - 1929)", Warren Perry, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 54-55

External links

* [http://www.archive.org/details/chroniclesofgayg00gordiala Autobiography] (Photographic reproduction)
* [http://www.geocities.com/gonzalezgordonjerez/generaljmgordon/content.htm Autobiography] (HTML)
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090054b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography]
* [http://www.sapolicehistory.org/gordon.html South Australia Police Historical Society]