Captain James Gordon: The Real Horatio Hornblower

 

Sir James Gordon

British forces routed American troops at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814 and marched into Washington City.  The British commander reported to London, “I reached [Washington] at 8 o’clock that night. Judging it of consequences to complete the destruction of the public buildings with the least possible delay, so that the army might retire without loss of time, the following buildings were set fire to and consumed: the capitol, including the Senate house and House of representation, the Arsenal, the Dock-Yard, Treasury, War office, President’s Palace, Rope-Walk, and the great bridge across the Potomac: In the dock-yard a frigate nearly ready to be launched, and a sloop of war, were consumed.”

While Washington still smoldered, seven British warships under the command of Captain James Gordon (thought by some to be the inspiration for C.S. Forester’s fictional hero Horatio Hornblower) appeared on the Potomac River headed for the Alexandria, just south of the city.  On the morning of August 28, 1814, a committee led by Alexandria Mayor Charles Simms rowed south to meet the British and request terms of surrender. Gordon and his fleet arrived in front of Alexandria in the evening. The next morning, the British lined up their gun boats with cannons bristling at the ready.

At the mercy of the British squadron, the town council agreed to the enemy's demands, and for the next five days the British looted stores and warehouses of barrels of flour, hogsheads of tobacco, bales of cotton, along with wine, sugar and other items.

While the British confiscated goods in Alexandria, American forces were setting up a battery on the river at White House Landing below Mount Vernon. On September 1, Captain Gordon sent two of his ships to fire on the battery to impede its completion, but by evening the Americans had five naval long guns and eight artillery field pieces in place.  On September 6, the entire squadron engaged the battery destroying all thirteen American guns within forty five minutes.  All seven British warships and twenty one captured merchant vessels returned to the main fleet.

Warsand Invasions (Four alternative history stories)

General George S. Patton once said, “Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” Here are four stories about the history of the world IF wars we know about happened differently or IF wars that never happened actually took place.