General Charles Gordon – Eminent Learning Centre

Hello everyone! Welcome to the Night of the Notables. My name is Major-General Charles Gordon, and this is my learning centre.

In case you have never heard of me, I am a British Army officer, and administrator, known best for my famous last stand during the Siege of Khartoum Sudan in 1885. While my death sent ripples throughout the British Empire, my life was much more than those final tragic moments. I spent years in and out of the public eye, ending conflicts, fighting slavery, and combatting Imperialism, all while working under two Imperialist Empires: The British Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

To learn more about me, and see an interactive map of my career, click on the attached link.

Charles Gordon Learning Centre

 


Image Sources:

Maps – Google Maps (Accredited on images)

About Me Image (First Slide) – Geruzet Frères – Belgian (active c. 1870-1889) – Harvard Art Museum/Fogg Museum, Historical Photographs and Special Visual Collections Department, Fine Arts Library

Newspaper Article Image (First Slide) – General Gordon’s Last Stand – George W. Joy

Gordon standing with Cane – https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24756/24756-h/24756-h.htm#img-104

Newspaper #1 (The Fall of Khartoum): Image of Gordon (left) – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Gordon_Pasha.jpg Image of the Mahdi (right) – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Muhammad_Ahmad.jpg

Newspaper #2 – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Gordon_Celestiale_Titu.jpg

All photos other than the maps are in the public domain.

 

 

 

17 comments on “General Charles Gordon – Eminent Learning CentreAdd yours →

  1. Evan! I love the design and layout! What I admire most is you were doubting your choice early on but you stuck with it and created some fine work! Well done Evan!

  2. Great work! I really enjoyed your use of space and the interactivity of your map. Since your always on the battlefield or exposing corruption, I have to ask. Excluding your final battle against the Mahdist army, what was your closest encounter with death?

    1. Thank you for the feedback. To answer your question, I was close to death throughout my career. Whether I was in Crimea, China, or Sudan, I was surrounded by death, injury, and suffering. I was only actually wounded a couple of times throughout my career though (before my death). The first time was in Crimea when a sniper shot me, and the second time was in China where I got shot in the thigh. Both times, I was luckily unhurt.

  3. I love your non-violent approach, using a cane as a tool to demonstrate that wars do not have to involve deadly weapons. How did you come to this conclusion? Why a cane and not some other object to show your peaceful intentions?

    1. – My hate for human suffering, and therefore conflict sprouts from my faith. I have always felt that violence is unnecessary, and it can be prevented. This is why I spent years fighting the slave trade, helping homeless youth, putting conflicts to an end, and sparing those who would surrender to me. My usage of a cane is simply an extension of my beliefs, and a tool to symbolize them.

      Cane’s were standard issue for officers in the army during the time, so I simply used my cane as my ‘weapon’ of choice because it is what I had.

  4. Hi Evan, this is an awesome presentation. I wonder what really drove General Gordon during his life? A love of adventure? A sense of duty to Empire? Or a Victorian sense of social justice against slavery and oppression? Really enjoyed the interactive map.

  5. I was born into the fifth generation of British Army officers so there was never really any doubt of my career path. From there, I was definitely driven by my sense of justice, and my drive for adventure. During my time in Gravesend, I was bored with the lack of action of faced, and going forward, I knew I had to lead a life of adventure.
    As for my sense of justice, it was heavily influenced by religious beliefs. As discussed in a previous question, I hated human suffering, pushing me to act on it.

  6. WOAH!!!! I can tell you put a lot of effort into this, your learning centre is awesome!! Good job 🙂 What would you say your (General Gordon’s) least favourite part of his life was?

    1. The worst part of my life was when I was forced to return home from Sudan in 1879. I had gone to Sudan hoping to make grand-breaking changes by abolishing slavery and dismantling the Ottoman rule, but after years of little success, and capture on one of my missions, I was forced to resign my post. At this point in my life, I felt like a failure, and I was truly a broken man.

  7. Such an interesting pick for an eminent person! And I’ve got an equally interesting question: After spending all this time in different parts of the world, what is your favorite cuisine food? Looking for creative answers!

    1. From my travels, one of my favourite foods was Kisra; a Sudanese flatbread made from sorghum flour. It went very nicely with stew. Thanks for the question.

  8. I loved the newspaper format of your learning center! General Charles Gordon, I am truly inspired by your courage and determination! If you could only use a few words, how would you sum up your legacy?

    1. Sadly my legacy is one full of shortcomings. While I was able to save many lives and implement many changes throughout my life, much of my progress was lost after my death. China would undergo many violent conflicts after, and the slave trade in Sudan was revived. Additionally, I am not many popular in either country as the modern Chinese government shares some ideas with the Taipings (for who I fought) and doesn’t look back at the Qing Dynasty (who I fought for) too fondly. In Sudan, the Mahdist Revolution is remembered as the first act of liberation from the British and Ottoman Empires, even though the revolution brought slavery, death, and violence.
      Still, I am proud of the changes I made during my lifetime, and the impression I left. I was incorruptible, fair, courageous, and I fought for justice which many viewed as admirable.

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