DRUMMOND, Sir Gordon, British soldier, born in Quebec in 1771; died in London, England, 10 October 1854. His father, a member of a Perthshire (Scotland) family of distinction, was paymaster general of the forces at Quebec. The son entered the army, as ensign in the 1st royals, in 1789. In 1794 he had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel, with the command of the 8th or king's regiment. He served in the campaign in Holland in 1794'5, and especially distinguished himself at the siege of Nimeguen in 1795; was at Minorca in 1800, and took part in all the battles in Egypt until the surrender of Cairo and Alexandria. He afterward served as a staff officer at Jamaica for a few years, and in Canada in 1808'11, being promoted lieutenant general in the latter year. In August 1813, he went to Canada again as second in command to Sir George Prevost. In December he stormed Fort Niagara, captured a large amount of naval and military stores, and planned the attack on Black Rock and Buffalo, which was successfully executed, 31 December 1813, by a small force under Sir P. Riall.

In May 1814, the military force under Lieutenant-General Drummond, and the fleet under Sir James Yeo, attacked and took Oswego, and destroyed a sixty-four gunship which had just been completed, together with barracks, works, and stores. He commanded at the obstinately contested battle of Lundy's Lane, 25 July 1814, and next invested Fort Erie, assaulting the outer works so vigorously that an entrance was effected by Colonel William Drummond. But at the moment when the assailants were confident of victory a large quantity of ammunition, which had been placed under the platform, ignited from the firing of the guns in the rear, the result being that the greater part of the British forces, which had entered the fort, was blown into the air. This disaster compelled General Drummond to relinquish the project of capturing Fort Erie. Soon afterward he succeeded General Prevost in command of the forces in Canada, and as administrator of the government, and was eminently successful. He returned to Great Britain in June 1816, and in 1817 received the grand cross of the Bath.