He joined the Gordon Highlanders as second lieutenant on 30 June 1900, and served in the Second Boer War in 1900–01; taking part in the operations in the Transvaal, east of Pretoria, from July to November 1900, and later in the Orange River Colony.

[1] The war ended in June 1902, and Gordon left Cape Town on the SS Scot in September, returning home.

At the 1918 General Election, Gordon won the new constituency of Aberdeen and Kincardine Central by a majority of 638 votes over the Liberal candidate.

[3] He never spoke or voted in Parliament, but shortly before his death he was appointed a member of the House of Commons Scottish Standing Committee.

Gordon died, at Newton Insch, Aberdeenshire aged 37, from heart failure after suffering from influenza, just over two months after his election.