Adam Gordon was born on 10 Jan 1728, the 4th son and 11th child of Alexander, 2nd Duke of Gordon, a former Jacobite, and Lady Henrietta Morduant, daughter of the Earl of Peterborough. He was commissioned into the Scots Greys in 1741 at the age of 13, and in 1746 was a captain in the 18th Royal Irish Regiment of Foot. By 1756 he was a lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Guards. He distinguished himself in the Battle of St Cast in Sep 1758 when he led the grenadiers of the Guards in a rearguard action. On 19 Jan 1763 he was appointed Colonel of the 66th Foot. He was promoted to Major General in 1772 and appointed Colonel of the 26th Cameronians on 27 Dec 1775. In May 1782 he was appointed Colonel of the 1st Royal Regiment and given the post of Commander-in-Chief of Scotland in 1789. In 1793 he reached the rank of General and retired in 1798.
He had a political career as a Tory MP for Kincardineshire and supported the Earl of Bute and Lord North. He objected to the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 and supported the Whig PM, Pitt the Elder, until leaving Parliament in 1788. He also held the post of Governor of Tynemouth and Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He was married on 2 Sep 1767 to Jean, Dowager Duchess of Atholl, without issue. He died at The Burn, Kincardineshire on 13 Aug 1801.
