John William Gordon

Who was John William Gordon?

Major-General Sir John William Gordon KCB was a British Army officer and Inspector-General of Engineers.

He obtained a commission in the Royal Engineers in 1823 and served in the United Kingdom, North America and Bermuda before the outbreak of the Crimean War.

Due to casualties during the Siege of Sevastopol, he was temporarily the commanding royal engineer of the army. He was brevetted three times during the war, from Captain to Colonel, became a Companion of the Order of the Bath and received the nickname "Old Fireworks" for coolness under fire. Later in the Siege he was wounded, being shot in both arms, and returned to the United Kingdom.

After the war he served with the Royal Horse Guards, commanded the defensive works at Plymouth and briefly commanded engineers in Canada when British involvement with the American Civil War became a possibility. During this period he was an appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, promoted to Major General and became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1869 he was appointed the Inspector-General of Engineers, the head of the Corps of Royal Engineers. However, in 1870 Gordon committed suicide, attributed to insanity brought on by his wounds from the Crimean War, in Westward Ho!, Devon while visiting family.