GORDON, ALEXANDER [SSNE 5014]

Surname

GORDON

First name

ALEXANDER

Title/rank

CAPTAIN

Nationality

SCOT

Region

ABERDEENSHIRE

Text source

According to some reports, Captain Alexander Gordon was apparently Governor of the fort of Tour-Louis near Antwerp in 1585 before it fell to the Duke of Parma. Gordon had defended it some time, been wounded and lost many soldiers there. He was afterwards made Governor of Bergen-op-Zoom by Prince Maurice and therafter Colonel of a Scottish regiment [not confirmed by colonelcy lists]. Allegedly killed in Scotland. His Governorships and Colonelcy are unsubstanciated, but Ferguson does show a captain Gordon in service from 1579, and relates two accounts of his service of which the above is one. The other states that a Captain [Alexander] Gordon was killed near Antwerp on 13 August 1584.

See J. Ferguson, Papers Illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in the service of the United Netherlands,1572-1697 (Edinburgh, 1899), p.47.

Service record

THE DUTCH REPUBLIC, THE SCOTS BRIGADE, [TOUR-LOUIS, BERGEN-OP-ZOOM?]

Arrived 1579-03-01, as CAPTAIN

Departed 1585-12-31, as CAPTAIN

Capacity OFFICER, [GOVERNOR?], purpose MILITARY