Alexander Hamilton-Gordon (British Army officer, born 1859)

Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon
1917 portrait by Francis Dodd
Born	6 July 1859
Died	13 February 1939 (aged 79)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands held	IX Corps
Battles/wars	Second Anglo-Afghan War Second Boer War First World War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Mention in Despatches (4)

Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon KCB (6 July 1859 – 13 February 1939) was a British general during World War I.

Early life[]

Hamilton-Gordon was one of ten children of General Sir Alexander Hamilton-Gordon, K.C.B. and Caroline Herschel. His paternal grandfather was George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855. His maternal grandfather was John Herschel.

Military career[]

Educated at Winchester College, Hamilton-Gordon was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1880.^[1] His first military service was in the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880.^[1] Hamilton-Gordon later served in the Boer War taking part in actions at Ladysmith, Spion Kop, Vaal Kranz and Tugela Heights.^[1] He became Deputy Assistant Adjutant General for Intelligence in South Africa in early 1901.^[1] Arriving back in the United Kingdom, he briefly became an instructor at the School of Gunnery before he was appointed a Deputy Assistant Quarter-Master-General at Aldershot in October 1901.^[2][3]

In 1910, he took a posting as Director of Military Operations in India, where he served until 1914, when he became General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Aldershot Command.^[1] In 1916, he was given command of IX Corps,^[1] serving at the Battle of Messines and the Third Battle of the Aisne. He was relieved in 1918 and retired in 1920.^[1]

He died in 1939.

Family[]

In 1888, he married Isabel Newmarch, with whom he had three children.^[4]

References[]