Role Model For Horatio Hornblower?

Wikipedia Source -  James Alexander Gordon

The Real Hornblower (from the description at Amazon excerpted below):

"Ever since C.S. Forester's fictional hero Horatio Hornblower began to delight and enthrall readers, there has been speculation as to whether his adventures were based on the career of a real naval officer."

"However...the author had been deliberately reticent regarding a Captain James Alexander Gordon, RN, who had led his squadron up the Potomac. Further inspection of naval records revealed a startling number of parallels between the careers of Gordon and Hornblower."

Robert B. McAfee, War Veteran And Author

Captain Robert Breckenridge McAfee, a veteran of the War of 1812, from Kentucky, was the author of History of the Late War in the Western Country.