John Brown Gordon

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John Brown Gordon

John Brown Gordon (February 6, 1832 – January 9, 1904) served as one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted Confederate generals during the American Civil War. After the war, he was a U.S. Senator, a railroad executive, an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Governor of Georgia from 1886 to 1890.

1 Early life
2 Civil War
3 Postbellum career
4 Quotations
5 References
6 Notes
7 External links

[edit] Early life

Gordon was descended from an ancient Scottish lineage, the fourth child of twelve, born on his father's plantation in Upson County, Georgia. Many Gordon family members fought in the Revolutionary War. He was an outstanding student at the University of Georgia, but left before graduating. He studied law in Atlanta and passed the bar examination. Gordon and his father invested in a series of coal mines in Tennessee and Georgia. He also practiced law. He represented Georgia in Congress for many years after the Civil War. Gordon married Fanny Haralson, daughter of Hugh Anderson Haralson, in 1854, and they had a long and happy marriage.

[edit] Civil War

Although lacking any military education or experience, Gordon was elected captain of a company of mountaineers and quickly climbed from captain to brigadier general (November 1, 1862), to major general (May 14, 1864). Though Gordon himself often claimed he was promoted to lieutenant general, there is no official record of this occurring.^[1] Gordon was an aggressive general who, when he was in command, or when he led a charge, was never defeated or repulsed. In 1864, Gordon was described by General Robert E. Lee in a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis as being one of his best brigadiers, "characterized by splendid audacity".

Gordon was a brigadier general and brigade commander in D.H. Hill's division in the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. During the subsequent Seven Days Battles, as Gordon strode fearlessly among his men, enemy bullets shattered the handle of his pistol, pierced his canteen, and tore away part of the front of his coat. He was wounded in the eyes during the assault on Malvern Hill.

Gordon portrait by Mathew Brady.

Assigned by General Lee to hold the vital sunken road, or "Bloody Lane", during the Battle of Antietam, Gordon's propensity for being wounded reached new heights. First, a Minié ball passed through his calf. Then, a second ball hit him higher in the same leg. A third ball went through his left arm. He continued to lead his men despite the fact that the muscles and tendons in his arm were mangled, and a small artery was severed by this ball. A fourth ball hit him in his shoulder. Despite pleas that he go to the rear, he continued to lead his men. He was finally stopped by a ball that hit him in the face, passing through his left cheek and out his jaw. He fell with his face in his cap and might have drowned in his own blood if it hadn't drained out through a bullet hole in the cap.

After months of recuperation, in June 1863 Gordon led a brigade of Georgians in Jubal A. Early's division during the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania. His brigade occupied Wrightsville on the Susquehanna River, the farthest east any organized Confederate troops would reach. Union militia under Col. Jacob G. Frick burned the mile-and-a-quarter-long covered wooden bridge to prevent Gordon from crossing the river, and the fire soon spread to parts of Wrightsville. Gordon's troops formed a bucket brigade and managed to prevent the further destruction of the town.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, Gordon's brigade smashed into the Union XI Corps on Barlow's Knoll. There, he aided the wounded opposing division commander Francis Barlow. This incident led to a story (which many people consider apocryphal) about the two officers meeting later in Washington, D.C., unaware that Barlow had survived the battle. The story was told by Barlow and by Gordon and was published in newspapers and in Gordon's book.

Seated at Clarkson Potter's table, I asked Barlow: "General, are you related to the Barlow who was killed at Gettysburg?" He replied: "Why, I am the man, sir. Are you related to the Gordon who killed me?" "I am the man, sir," I responded. No words of mine can convey any conception of the emotions awakened by those startling announcements. Nothing short of an actual resurrection from the dead could have amazed either of us more. Thenceforward, until his untimely death in 1896, the friendship between us which was born amidst the thunders of Gettysburg was greatly cherished by both.

– John B. Gordon, Reminiscences of the Civil War

Many historians discount this story because of Gordon's tendency to exaggerate in post-war writings and because it is inconceivable to them that Gordon did not know that Barlow subsequently fought against him in the Battle of the Wilderness.

In the Overland Campaign, Gordon commanded a division in Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's (later Early's) corps. He proposed a flanking attack against the Union right in the Battle of the Wilderness that might have had a decisive effect on the battle, had Early allowed him freedom to launch it before late in the day. Gordon's success in turning back the massive Union assault in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (the Bloody Angle) prevented a Confederate rout. He left with Early for the Valley Campaigns of 1864 and was wounded August 25, 1864, at Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Confederate engineer Jedediah Hotchkiss's official report of the incident stated, "Quite a lively skirmish ensued, in which Gordon was wounded in the head, but he gallantly dashed on, the blood streaming over him." His wife Fanny, accompanying her husband on the campaign as general's wives sometimes did, rushed out into the street at the Third Battle of Winchester to urge Gordon's retreating troops to go back and face the enemy. Gordon was horrified to find her in the street with shells and balls flying about her.

Returning to Lee's army after Early's defeat at the Battle of Cedar Creek, Gordon defended the line in the Siege of Petersburg and commanded the attack on Fort Stedman on March 25, 1865 (where he was wounded again, in the leg). At Appomattox Court House, he led his men in the last charge of the Army of Northern Virginia, capturing the entrenchments and several pieces of artillery in his front just before the surrender. On April 12, 1865, Gordon's Confederate troops officially surrendered to Bvt. Maj. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain, acting for Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.

[edit] Postbellum career

John Brown Gordon's statue is located on the northeastern grounds of the Georgia State Capitol.

In the spring of 1868 Gordon served as the first Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia, overseeing its violent attacks on blacks and Republicans. Gordon was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1873, and in 1879 became the first ex-Confederate to preside over the Senate. The next day he obtained a promise from President Ulysses S. Grant to remove Federal officials in Georgia who had gained their positions through fraud or corruption.

Gordon resigned in May 1880 to promote a venture for the Georgia-Pacific Railroad. He was elected Governor of Georgia in 1886 and returned to the U.S. Senate from 1891 to 1897. In 1903 Gordon published an account of his Civil War service entitled Reminiscences of the Civil War. He engaged in a series of popular speaking engagements throughout the country.

Grave of John Brown Gordon, Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta, Georgia

General Gordon was the first Commander-in-Chief of the United Confederate Veterans when the group was organized in 1890 and held this position until his death. He died in Miami, Florida, at the age of 71 and was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia; upwards of 75,000 people viewed and took part in the memorial ceremonies.

The statue of Gordon on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta is the only public equestrian statue in the city.

U.S. Highway 19 in Gordon's native Upson County, Georgia, is named in his honor.

[edit] Quotations

"A more gallant, generous, and fearless gentleman and soldier has not been seen by our country." — President Theodore Roosevelt

"He was a devout and humble Christian gentleman. I know of no man more beloved at the South, and he was probably the most popular Southern man among the people of the North." — Stephen D. Lee, Commander-in-Chief, United Confederate Veterans

[edit] References

Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
Gordon, John B., Reminiscences of the Civil War, 1903.
Kross, Gary, "The Barlow-Gordon Incident", Blue & Gray Magazine, December 2001, 23-24, 48-51.
White, Gregory C., response to Kross article, Blue & Gray Magazine, February 2002, 5-6.
New York Times, July 4, 1888.
National Tribune, March 1979.

[edit] Notes

^ Eicher, p. 260.

[edit] External links

Preceded by Henry Dickerson McDaniel	Governor of Georgia 1886–1890	Succeeded by William J. Northen
Preceded by Joshua Hill	United States Senator (Class 3) from Georgia 1873–1880 Served alongside: Thomas M. Norwood, Benjamin H. Hill	Succeeded by Joseph E. Brown
Preceded by Joseph E. Brown	United States Senator (Class 3) from Georgia 1891–1897 Served alongside: Alfred H. Colquitt, Patrick Walsh, Augustus O. Bacon	Succeeded by Alexander S. Clay