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GORDON, PATRICK (1635–1699)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 254 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GORDON, See also:PATRICK (1635–1699) , See also:Russian See also:general, was descended from a Scottish See also:family ' of See also:Aberdeenshire, who possessed the small See also:estate of Auchleuchries, and were connected with the See also:house of Haddo. He was See also:born in 1635, and after completing his See also:education at the See also:parish See also:schools of See also:Cruden and Ellon, entered, in his fifteenth See also:year, the Jesuit See also:college at See also:Braunsberg, See also:Prussia; but, as " his See also:humour could not endure such a still and strict way of living," he soon resolved to return See also:home. He changed his mind, however, before re-embarking, and after journeying on See also:foot in several parts of See also:Germany, ultimately, in 16J5, enlisted at See also:Hamburg in the See also:Swedish service. In the course of the next five years he served alternately with the Poles and Swedes as he was taken prisoner by either. In 1661, after further experience as a soldier of See also:fortune, he took service in the Russian See also:army under See also:Alexis I., and in 1665 he was sent on a See also:special See also:mission to See also:England. After his return he distinguished himself in several See also:wars against the See also:Turks and See also:Tatars in See also:southern See also:Russia, and in recognition of his services he in 1678 was made See also:major-general, in 1679 was appointed to the See also:chief command at See also:Kiev, and in 1683 was made See also:lieutenant-general. He visited England in 1686, and in 1687 and 1689 took See also:part as quartermaster-general in expeditions against the Crim Tatars in the See also:Crimea, being made full general for his services, in spite of the denunciations of the See also:Greek See also:Church to which, as a heretic, he was exposed. On the breaking out of the revolution in See also:Moscow in 1689, Gordon with the troops he commanded virtually decided events in favour of the See also:tsar See also:Peter I., and against the tsaritsa See also:Sophia. He was therefore during the See also:remainder of his See also:life in high favour with the tsar, who confided to him the command of his See also:capital during his See also:absence from Russia, employed him in organizing his army according to the See also:European See also:system; and latterly raised him to the See also:rank of general-in-chief. He died on the 29th of See also:November 1699. The tsar, who had visited him frequently during his illness, was with him when he died, and with his own hands closed his eyes. General Gordon See also:left behind him a See also:diary of his life, written in See also:English.

This is preserved in MS. in the archives of the Russian See also:

foreign See also:office. A See also:complete See also:German See also:translation, edited by Dr See also:Maurice Possalt ( Tagebuch See also:des Generals Patrick Gordon) was published, the first See also:volume at Moscow in 1849, the second at St See also:Petersburg in 1851, and the third at St Petersburg in 1853; and Passages from the Diary of General Patrick Gordon of Auchleuchries (1635-1699), was printed, under the editorship of See also:Joseph See also:Robertson, for the See also:Spalding See also:Club, See also:Aberdeen, 1859. GORDON-See also:CUMMING, ROUALEYN See also:GEORGE (1820-1866), Scottish traveller and sportsman, known as the " See also:lion See also:hunter," was born on the 15th of See also:March 182o. He was the second son of See also:Sir See also:William G. Gordon-Cumming, 2nd See also:baronet of Altyre and Gordonstown, See also:Elginshire. From his See also:early years he was distinguished by his See also:passion for See also:sport. He was educated at See also:Eton, and at eighteen joined the See also:East See also:India Co.'s service as a See also:cornet in the See also:Madras See also:Light See also:Cavalry. The See also:climate of India not suiting him, after two years' experience he retired from. the service and returned to See also:Scotland. During his stay in the East he had laid the See also:foundation of his collection of See also:hunting trophies and specimens of natural See also:history. In 1843 he joined the Cape Mounted Rifles, but for the See also:sake of See also:absolute freedom sold out at the end of the year and with an ox See also:wagon and a few native followers set out for the interior. He hunted chiefly in See also:Bechuanaland and the • See also:Limpopo valley, regions then swarming with big See also:game. In 1848 he returned to England.

The See also:

story of his remarkable exploits is vividly told in his See also:book, Five Years of a Hunter's Life in the Far Interior of See also:South See also:Africa (See also:London, 185o, 3rd ed. 1851). Of this volume, received at first with incredulity by stay-at-home critics, See also:David See also:Livingstone, who furnished Gordon-Cumming with most of his native guides, wrote: " I have no hesitation in saying that Mr Cumming's book conveys a truthful See also:idea of South See also:African hunting " (Missionary Travels, See also:chap. vii.). His collection of hunting trophies was exhibited in London in 1851 at the See also:Great See also:Exhibition, and was illustrated by a lecture delivered by Gordon-Cumming. The collection, known as " The South Africa Museum," was afterwards exhibited in various parts of the See also:country. In 1858 Gordon-Cumming went to live at Fort See also:Augustus on the Caledonian See also:Canal, where the exhibition of his trophies attracted many visitors. He died there on the 24th of March 1866. An abridgment of his book was published in 1856 under the See also:title of The Lion Hunter of South Africa, and in this See also:form was frequently reprinted, a new edition appearing in 1904.

End of Article: GORDON, PATRICK (1635–1699)

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