Who was captain William Gordon?

Answer 1

Captain William Gordon is a fictitious character (played by Toby Stephens) in the film "The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey", which tells the story of the roots of the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny in India. This colourful epic focuses on the story of the friendship of an East India Company Sepoy (or Indian soldier), Mangal Pandey, and his commanding officer, Captain William Gordon, who reluctantly find themselves on opposite sides of India's growing conflict to throw off British rule.

However, a real Captain William Gordon is briefly mentioned in the book "Battles of the honourable East India Company: making of the Raj" by M. S. Naravane. On page 50 in the chapter describing the Anglo-Martha Wars in the 18th and 19th centuries it says: "Captain William Gordon was sent to the Chhtrepati Shau on what was termed a good will visit. But Gordon was under instructions to observe carefully the political situation at Satara and find out if any minister could be turned against Baji Rao whom the English feared most."