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Charles George Gordon
Charles George Gordon
(28 January 1833 ? 26 January 1885) was a
British Army
officer and
mercenary
.
[1]
He served the
Khedive of Egypt
as
Governor
of the
Sudan
. He was killed by supporters of
Muhammed Ahmed
, the
Mahdi
, a rebel against
Egyptian
rule in the country.
Gordon was born in
London
in 1833, where his father was a major in the
Royal Artillery
.
[1]
: 1
While still a very small child the family moved to
Dublin
so his father could work on modernising the guns at the Pigeon House Fort.
[1]
: 10
In 1837 they moved to
Edinburgh
when his father was posted to Leith Fort.
[1]
: 11
The family were then sent to the island of
Corfu
where his father had to arrange for the guns to be placed in new positions.
[1]
: 12
Gordon 's parents wanted him to have an English education so he was sent to Fullands School at
Taunton
.
[1]
: 14
When he turned 14 he attended the
Royal Military Academy
at
Woolwich
.
[1]
: 14
He was often bullied, and he would become quiet and withdrawn. He go for several days without speaking to anyone. He would stand still and stare at the bullies until they felt uncomfortable and stopped.
[1]
: 25
Gordon was accused of having bullied other students, and was punished by having to stay at the college for another term. He passed his exams and joined the
Royal Engineers
on the 23 June 1852.
[1]
: 28
Gordon worked as an
engineer
repairing various army buildings in
Chatham
, and repairing the fort at
Pembroke
. In 1855 he was sent to the
Crimean War
and took part in the
siege of Sebastopol
.
[1]
: 36
After the war, Gordon was sent to survey and map the border between Russia and the
Romanian
principalities of
Moldavia
and
Wallachia
. In May 1857 he was sent to map the border between Russia and
Turkey
. He was awarded a Turkish war medal and the French
Legion of Honour
. Gordon returned to England at the end of 1858, where he was promoted to major, and took up a post at Chatham.
[1]
: 51
At the end of the
Second Opium War
in 1860, Gordon was sent to
China
with a force of soldiers to protect British interests. In 1863 he was put in charge of the "Ever Victorious Army", a mercenary army under the command of European officers.
[2]
This army was to fight the Niang
rebellion
against the
Manchu
, and later the
Taiping Rebellion
. Gordon was able to create a highly disciplined and successful fighting force. By careful planning he was able to lead the Ever Victorious Army to victory of the rebels. The
Chinese Emperor
made him a Field Marshall in the Imperial Army and presented him with China's highest award, the peacock feather.
[1]
: 75
The British Army promoted him to Lieutenant Colonel and he was made a
Companion of the Order of the Bath
.
[1]
: 75
He returned to England at the end of 1864.
Gordon was made Commandant of Engineers at
Gravesend
. He had the job of repairing the forts guarding the
Thames
at Gravesend and
Tilbury
.
[2]
Gordon was horrified by the number of poor people, especially old people and children. A man of strong religious belief, Gordon felt is was his duty to God to help provide food, clothing and education for these people. He spent about 90% of his army pay on the poor.
[2]
The poor boys he called "Wangs", after the Chinese Princes of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace.
[1]
: 83