# General Gordon — Eminent Victorians character guide

> General Gordon in Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Captain Gordon, Chinese Gordon, Charles George Gordon, Charlie Gordon, Gordon Pasha, Leur Gordon, C. G. Gordon

**First appearance:** 0002-eminent-victorians

## Snapshot

A restless soldier-mystic whose genius for war and appetite for martyrdom made him the most romantic and least governable hero of the British Empire.

## Who they are

Gordon is the soldier-saint the Victorian public adored and the War Office could never quite manage — a man who fought in China, served as Governor of the Sudan, and read his Bible in the intervals between battles. His fatalism and his habit of obeying a higher command than any ministry made him both indispensable and impossible, a figure whose personal magnetism outran every official instruction. Strachey follows him into the desert to show how a legend is manufactured, and how a hero can be undone by the very qualities that made him one.

## Relationships

### [Li Hung Chang](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/li_hung_chang)

_professional_

Gordon and Li Hung Chang had a complex professional relationship during the Taiping Rebellion and later diplomatic dealings, marked by mutual respect but also tension.

### [Lord Hartington](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/lord_hartington)

_professional_

Gordon and Lord Hartington corresponded frequently as Gordon sought political support and Hartington, as War Secretary, managed Gordon's military appointments.

### [Sir Evelyn Baring](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/sir_evelyn_baring)

_rivalry_

Gordon and Sir Evelyn Baring were in constant conflict over the evacuation of Sudan, with Baring representing cautious imperial policy and Gordon defying orders.

### [The Mahdi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/the_mahdi)

_rivalry_

General Gordon and the Mahdi were mortal enemies, with the Mahdi leading the Sudanese revolt that besieged and ultimately killed Gordon in Khartoum.

### [Lord Hartington](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/lord_hartington)

_professional_

Gordon and Lord Hartington corresponded frequently as Gordon sought political support and Hartington, as War Secretary, managed Gordon's military appointments.

### [Lord Hartington](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/lord_hartington)

_professional_

Gordon and Lord Hartington corresponded frequently as Gordon sought political support and Hartington, as War Secretary, managed Gordon's military appointments.

### [Li Hung Chang](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/li_hung_chang)

_professional_

Gordon and Li Hung Chang had a complex professional relationship during the Taiping Rebellion and later diplomatic dealings, marked by mutual respect but also tension.

### [The Mahdi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/the_mahdi)

_rivalry_

General Gordon and the Mahdi were mortal enemies, with the Mahdi leading the Sudanese revolt that besieged and ultimately killed Gordon in Khartoum.

### [Sir Evelyn Baring](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/sir_evelyn_baring)

_rivalry_

Gordon and Sir Evelyn Baring were in constant conflict over the evacuation of Sudan, with Baring representing cautious imperial policy and Gordon defying orders.

### [Li Hung Chang](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/li_hung_chang)

_professional_

Gordon and Li Hung Chang had a complex professional relationship during the Taiping Rebellion and later diplomatic dealings, marked by mutual respect but also tension.

### [Sir Evelyn Baring](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/sir_evelyn_baring)

_rivalry_

Gordon and Sir Evelyn Baring were in constant conflict over the evacuation of Sudan, with Baring representing cautious imperial policy and Gordon defying orders.

## In the story

### [Eminent Victorians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/chapters/eminent-victorians)

One of the four subjects, representing imperial adventure and military leadership.

### [The End of General Gordon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/chapters/the-end-of-general-gordon)

The central figure of the chapter, whose appointment to evacuate the Sudan is questioned. His final journal entries and letters show his defiance, his belief that the expedition was for the garrisons not his relief, and his acceptance of his fate.

### [Bibliography](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/chapters/bibliography)

Primary subject of the bibliography; multiple works by and about him are listed.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters/general_gordon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eminent_victorians_se/characters