A CONTROVERSIAL HERO OF THE CIVIL WAR George HORNAR Mihai RUS Academia Forțel or Terestre ”Nicolae Bălcescu”, Sibiu georgehornar@gmail.com Abstract… [628119]

GENERAL JOHN BROWN GORDON –
A CONTROVERSIAL HERO OF THE CIVIL WAR

George HORNAR
Mihai RUS
Academia Forțel or Terestre ”Nicolae Bălcescu”, Sibiu
[anonimizat]

Abstract
John Brown Gordon (February 6, 1832 -January 9, 1904) symbolises a model of hero to
Georgians, a military leader who displayed remarkable capabilities during the Civil War, and a
post-American Civil W ar politician who led the shift from agrarian to commerci al and industrial
ideals in the New South. This paper emphasizes his unquestionably reputation as a soldier and
his role during the war, but also his political prominence after the war and his own popularity
enhanced by publishing his very successful memoi r, "Reminiscences of the Civil War ", in 1903.
Although lacking any military education, Gordon possessed an audacity that inspired his troops
to amazing feats of bravery and sacrifice and led him to a successful military and civil career.

Keywords: military leader, American Civil War, political prominence, commercial and
industrial ideals, Reminiscences of the Civil War

Pre-war life
John Brown Gordon , the fourth in a family with twelve children [3], was descended from an ancient
Scottish ancestry , and was born on hi s father Zachariah Gordon' s farm in Upson County, Georgia .
His family moved to Walker County, Georgia in the 1840s, where his father owned a plantation
with 18 slaves at the time of the 1840 census.
After finishing his formati ve years , Gordon ventured to Lafayette where he entered Pleasant Green
Academy, and when Gordon completed his studies there near the end of 1850, he enrolled at the
University of Georgia in Athens where he joined the Demosthenian Literary Society on campus [3].
He studied and practiced law in Atlanta and, in the years preceding the Civil War, he developed
coal mines in north -western Georgia. Gordon ma rried Rebecca "Fanny" Haralson in 1854, and they
had six children [1].
John Br own Gordon died at age 71 and was buried in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the first
commander -in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans and Camp Gordon (now Fort Gordon in
Augusta, Georgia) was named after him.

American Civil War
Despite having no prior formal training as a soldier, John Brown Gordon became known as one of
the most successful military leaders throughout history. Elected captain of the “Raccoon Roughs,”
a company of mountain men , he enrolled in the 6th Alabama Infantry Regiment in 1861 [3].

John B. Gordon rose to prominence during the Civil War,
entering as a captain and emerging as a major general
(Photograph by Wikimedia)

Gordon rose quickly and in 1862 (April) he was promoted to Colonel . He led the regiment during
the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles, a series of six major battle s.
On September 1862, Gordon and his men were asked to hold the “Bloody Lane” during the Battle
of Antietam. It was the first major battle on Union Soil. Gordon personally paid a high price against
the repeated attacks, being wounded five time, the last rendering him unconscious. In 1863, after
recovering from his wound, Gordon was promoted to Brigadier General.
During the Battle of Gettysburg, he an d his troops had great success. In 1864 he was promoted to
a major general in command of one half of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's army [2] and led
his new division through the Shenandoah Valley Campaign.
Gordon led the assault on Fort Stedman in 18 65 at Lee’s orders in an attempt to break the stalemate
south of Confederate capital. After initial suc cess, he was forced to withdraw. Gordon , who was
only thirty -three years old, and his troops took part in the retreat toward Appomattox where the
Army of North Virginia surrendered at the Appomattox Court House. He was touched when Union
General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain ordered his men to salute Gordon’s column, ordering his
men to return the gesture in kind.
By the end of the American Civil War Gordon had fought in numerous battles which demonstrated
his exceptional tactical skill : Seven Days Battles, Maryland Campaign, Battle of Antietam,
Gettysburg Campaign, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Valley Ca mpaigns of 1864, Siege of
Petersburg, Appomattox Campaign, Battle of Appomattox Courthouse . Although it has been

claimed Gordon was promoted to Lieutenant General, there is no evidence to validate the
promotion.
His spectacular rise and career were unmatched in the history and are even more unusual
considering his youth and lack of military training and experience .

Political prominence and controversies
After the war , in 1865, Gordon returned to Atlanta, and a s the government of the State of Georgia
was being reconstituted, he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1868 . He was a firm opponent of
Reconstruction and endorsed measures to preserve white -dominated society, including restrictions
on freedmen and the use of violence.
Gordon 's political care er was marked by a first controversy when he was thought to be the titular
head of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia, a white supremacist hate group, whos e primary target was
African Americans , but the organization was so secretive that there was no conclusive evidence .
Author Ralph Lowell Eckart have concluded that "it is exceedingly difficult to determine Gordon's
exact role in the Klan, but given the nature of his testimony, his almost constant travel throughout
Georgia and the South, and his desire to maintain peace, social order, and white supremacy, one
can conclude with reasonable certainty that he was at least titular head of the Georgia Ku Klux
Klan ."[3]
Gordon denied any involvement with the Klan, but he acknowledge d he was associated with a
secret "peace police" organization whose purpose was the "preservation of peace." Moreover, in
1866, Gordon made substantial contributions in the form of money and materials to help build
churches and schools fo r black s in Brunswick, Georgia. All these actions , coupled with the
reconciliatory tone of his many speeches are in direct conflict with the activities of the Ku Klux
Klan, which sought to maintain racial and regional animosities.
Gordon was elected to the U.S. S enate in 1873, and in 1879 became the first ex -Confederate to
preside over the Senate. He became one of the leading proponents of the industrialization and New
South, the modernization of society and attitudes in order to integrate more fully with the United
States, and reject the economy and traditions of the Old South and the slavery -based plantation
system of the antebellum period.
In 1880 his political career was marked by a second controversy when, having been re-elected to
the U.S. Senate, he resi gned to become general counsel of the state -controlled Western and Atlantic
Railroad. Although Gordon claimed that he was acting in the best interest of the party, he was never
able to demonstrate that he was motivated by personal gain.
He won election as governor of Georgia in 1886 and returned to the U.S. Senate from 1891 to 1897.
None of those controversies detracted from his popularity. His political and military prominence
made it only natural that he was selected the first commander of the United Confederate Veterans.

"Reminiscences of the Civil War" (1903)
Gordon enhanced his own reputation as a soldier by publishing his highly successful memoir,
Reminiscences of the Civil War , in 1903. In his book he tended to exaggerate his role in the war
and to embellish certain events to foster unification between the s tates. One of those exaggerations

is mentioned in the context of the Battle of Gettysburg, when Gordon's brigade smashed into the
XI Corps on Barlow's Knoll. There, he aided the wounded opposing division commander Francis
Barlow. This incident led to a story about the two officers meeting later in Washington, D.C.,
Gordon unaware that Barlow had sur vived the battle:

"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 respond ed. 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 friend ship between us which was born
amidst the thunders of Gettysburg was greatly cherished by both ." [4]
(Photograph by Amazon)

Throughout history
By the time of his death in 1904, Gordon had capitalized on his war record to such an extent that
he had become for many Georgians, and southerners in general, the living embodiment of the
American Civil War and the supporter of the New South and industrialization .
Numerous legacies certify it, as t he U.S. Army Fort Gordon installation in August a, Georgia, is
named for Gordon, t he statue of Gordon on the grounds of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta is
the only public equestrian statue in the city; the U.S. Highway 19 in Gordon's native Upson County,
Georgia, is named in his honour ; the Gordon State College (Georgi a) in Barnesville , Georgia, is
named for Gordon; the John B. Gordon Hall i n Lafayette is named for Gordon, the John B. Gordon
Elementary School in Atlanta was named for G ordon.

REFERENCES
[1] Caroline Lewis Gordon, Plantation Life with General John B. Gordon (The Georgia Review,
1960), 17 -34.
[2] William Wyrick, The Confederate Attack and Union Defense of Fort Stedman: March 25, 1865.
Chapter 4 in Bearss, Edward C. with Bruce Suderow. The Petersburg Campaign: The Western
Front Battles (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2014 ), 241.
[3] Ralph Lowell Eckert, John Brown Gordon: Soldier, Southerner, American , (Baton Rouge :
Louisiana State Univ ersity Press, 1984), 19; 21; 29; 145 -149.
[4] John B. Gordon, Reminiscences of the Civil War (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904 )

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Deserino, Frank E. John Brown Gordon . In Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political,
Social, and Military History , edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company, 2000.
Eckert, Ralph Lowell. John Brown Gordon: Soldier, Southerner, American , Baton Rouge :
Louisiana State Univ ersity Press, 1984.
Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands . Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press, 2001.
Gordon, Caroline Lew is. Plantation Life with General John B. Gordon , The Georgia Review, 1960.
Gordon, John B. Reminiscences of the Civil War , New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1904
Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders . Baton Rouge: Louisiana
State University Press, 1959.
Wyrick, William. The Confederate Attack and Union Defense of Fort Stedman: March 25, 1865.
Chapter 4 in Bearss, Edward C. with Bruce Suderow. The Petersburg Campaign: The Western
Front Battles , El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2014.

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