One-page autograph letter signed to James Beatty, Navy Agent, in Baltimore
Norfolk: 4 December, 1814. 4to, integral address leaf with docket attached; previous folds, very good. "I have this moment learnt that Mr. Archer, Purser of the Flotilla has left this [place] for Baltimore to procure cloathing for the men of the Flotilla. He has gone without my permission and will be arrested. He has not my authority to procure it. And as the few men attached to the Flotilla can be furnished here, no engagement of his so far as it relates to the Flotilla under my Command, will be sanctioned or approved by me." Gordon (1778-1816) joined the Navy as a midshipman on 24 June 1799 and was promoted to lieutenant six months later. He served on Constellation during the Quasi-war, Philadelphia in 1801, and in the Mediterranean on George Washington, President, New York and Constitution between 1801 and 1804. He commanded Gunboat No. 2 during the attack on Tripoli on 28 August 1804. He was promoted to master commandant in April 1806 and served on Adams in home waters in 1805 and 1806. Fate entered unfavorably in 1807 when in command of Chesapeake he departed Lynnhaven Inlet with Commodore James Barron embarked en route to assume command of the Mediterranean squadron. HMS Leopard awaited them offshore, and the rest of the story is well known. Gordon was court-martialed and found guilty of negligence for not having his ship battle-ready. Following command of Siren, Gordon participated in two duels, both born of challenges to his conduct in the Chesapeake-Leopard affair. In the second he was seriously wounded, a wound that would cause him discomfort for years to come. In 1811 he assumed command of the Baltimore Navy Station and the squadron of gunboats at that place where his persistent interdiction against superior British naval forces eventually earned him an assignment to command Constellation in Norfolk. At the war’s close Gordon and Constellation joined Decatur’s squadron bound for action against the Barbary powers. Gordon survived that campaign but succumbed at sea in the Mediterranean on 7 September 1816 while still in command of Constellation. Item #58928
Price: $600.00
