After Gordon became a member of the Confederate army, Fanny decided to go with him wherever he was sent. She left their children in the care of relatives so that she could travel freely by his side. She often sat in the camps, watching and listening to the battles going on nearby. As Gordon fought in the Battle of Seven Pines, Fanny was at nearby Richmond with an elderly uncle, calmly sitting with her hands folded, during the entire battle. At the end of the day, when she heard her husband was safe, she collapsed.

Following Gordon's injuries at Antietam, she awaited outside the barn being used for a hospital, eager to see her husband. The surgeons told Gordon his wife was outside, but worried "whether the colonel's lady is entirely prepared to withstand the possible shock under the circumstances". This worry was not without reason, as Gordon lay there with his face black and swollen, his eyes nearly swollen shut, an arm and a leg propped up on pillows, completely bandaged. Gordon scoffed at them, telling them to let her in. When she entered the room and saw him, she stifled a scream, then calmed herself and kneeled beside him. She then began the task of nursing her husband back to health. She funneled liquids through his clenched teeth, as his jaw had been wired shut. When it was determined that erysipelas, a streptococcus inflamation that is usually fatal, had developed in his arm, she spoke with his doctors, who said the only hope was to apply iodine to the wound several times a day. She did this almost religiously, causing even Gordon himself to state that "she obeyed the doctors by painting it, I think, three or four hundred times a day". Eventually, the infection receded, and, after many months under her constant nursing, Gordon was back to health and back to leading soldiers. It is said that Gordon changed as a result of his wife's care: "Once fiercely self-contained, his very life became wholly dependent on the love of a woman whose courage equaled his own."

Shortly after Gordon's recovery, he was sent with a new batch of troops to Chancellorsville, and Fanny was not permitted to go with him. The separation was a difficult one for both of them, as John Gordon recorded in his letters to her.

Unbeknownst to him, she followed him later, meeting up with him in the streets of Winchester. She had narrowly escaped capture, being aided by Rodes' men when her carriage broke down. She was so well-known for following General Gordon that it was said among the men that "it had become a tradition in the Army that when she was seen on her way to the rear, action was about to open". General Early had long before stated an opposition to wives following their soldier-husbands, and once even muttered, "I wish the Yankees would capture Mrs. Gordon and hold her till the war is over." She learned of his remark, and teased him about it at dinner. Embarrassed, Early replied, "Mrs. Gordon, General Gordon is a better soldier when you are close by him than when you are away, and so heareafter, when I issue orders that officers' wives must go to the rear, you may know that you are excepted." When Early learned that Mrs. Gordon had managed to catch up to the Army at Winchester, he exclaimed, "Well, I'll be! If my men would keep up as well as she does, I'd never issue another order against straggling."

Source: Crystal's Page, http://webpages.marshall.edu/~nester2, ca1999.

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Excerpts from Letters from John Brown Gordon to Fanny Gordon

"I would like so much to have seen you once more before you left, but these are times which try us in many respects. I had to leave you so hurriedly the other morning, that I did not give you the loving good bye, which would have made me happier now. But 'God bless you my dear dear wife' comes right from my heart. I am so glad I spent the last night with you. I was so happy that night and the recollection of it is so sweet now, that I am constantly thinking of it....My confidence, I think, that God will protect me, is pretty strong. I trust in Him. Pray that I may trust Him more and pray with faith."

late April 1863

"How far we will go, no one seems to know. I doubt Genl Lee himself knows....Fan, your letters are the most beautiful evidences of a wife's devotion I have ever seen. Write them to me dear dear Fanny. They are so sweet to me, when I am so far away from you & on such a cheerless 'jaunt' as this....May God protect us and bring us together again. Pray that I may have His spirit always in my heart. Good bye darling, sweet wife."

June 7, 1863

After Gordon's troops moved to Shepherdstown, he found a place for Fanny to live and wrote her to join him. His letters were returned, undelivered, because she was no longer there. Unbeknownst to him, she had left Richmond to try to stay as close to him as she could. He expressed his deep sorrow in his letters, even to the point of becoming ashamed of what he was feeling.

"Oh Fanny, what shall I say to you? How shall I tell you what I feel tonight?...If I could only lay my arms around my dear wife & press her close to this heart--how it would relieve me. If down my sunburnt cheeks a tear, which I can't control, steals when I write this, am I therefore unmanly & effeminate?

Well then, let it be so. But it is only when my heart is overwhelmed by such reflections as I have had tonight, that I am guilty of such unmanliness--and but for a moment then--I am almost sorry I confessed this to you. I shall control myself in the future.... Well rely on it, I shall shed no more tears soon."

After the battle of Gettysburg:

"God has spared my life, I am yet alive. Thousands of as brave and good men as our country contains lie on the battle fields of Pennsylvania & yet I am spared. I, who so little appreciate God's peculiar favors to me, I who am so sinful, so thoughtless so ungrateful for God's goodness am spared. Oh Lord I pray to fill my heart and my dear wife's with gratitude and praise."

Good bye again my sweet angel wife.

Source: Crystal's Page, http://webpages.marshall.edu/~nester2/letters.html, ca1999.

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During the War (1861-1865)

John Brown Gordon was first commissioned as Major of the "Raccoon Roughs" on May 14, 1861. They constituted the 12th part of the Sixth Alabama, one of the largest regiments in the Confederate army, and were known for their coon-skin caps, which they wore rather than the standard gray caps. They soon set out for Virginia and were the first out-of-state troops to arrive there, in June of 1861. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the winter of 1861, which made him second in command of the regiment. They were sent to Yorktown, but were involved in a train collision en route. Fortunately, John, Fanny, and most of the men survived and continued on. He was chosen by his regiment as Colonel on 28 April 1862, giving him first charge of the men.

The first battle action his men actually saw was at the Battle of Seven Pines, where the men had to pass through the river because the bridge washed out. They dealt with dense growth, muck, and water for five hours as they fought. Gordon had his horse shot away, and his men were under point-blank fire, yet the men were said to have "never faltered". Although Gordon lost approximately 60% of his men there, the rest courageously fought on and stayed behind him. He later stated that this battle was "one of the bloodiest of [his] wartime experience."

The Battle of Malvern Hill was Gordon's first experience with injury, even though his was not severe. He was made blind by dirt from an exploding shell, which fortunately lasted only a short duration. He stressed the importance of character at Malvern Hill, for that was what kept his men from retreating and surrendering. This is where Chatham's expression, "Give 'em hell, boys!" was adopted by all rebels, who frequently shouted it as a rouse to fight.

Battle of Sharpsburg

"From the position assigned me near the centre of Lee's lines, both armies and the entire field were in view. The scene was not only magnificent to look upon, but the realization of what it meant was deeply impressive. Even in times of peace our sensibilities are stirred by the sight of a great army passing in review. How infinitely more thrilling in the dread moments before the battle to look upon two mighty armies upon the same plain, 'beneath spread ensigns and bristling bayonets', waiting for the impending crash and sickening carnage!"

In the beginning, the battle of Antietam looked as if it could be a definite Confederate victory. The Confederate army, although outnumbered nearly 2 to 1 by the Union forces, was holding its own. Behind the Union was open country, while behind the Confederacy was the Potomac River, giving no real avenue for retreat. Gordon was so confident in his men he told General Robert E. Lee, "These men are going to stay here, General, till the sun goes down or the victory is won," and that they did.

As the hours wore on, the men began to get worn down, and their ammunition was rapidly depleting. They were determined to stand fast, and Gordon knew they had no chance at hand-to-hand combat, so something had to be done to stop the Union before it was upon them. Gordon decided to have his men hold their fire till the enemy was nearly upon them, then to "turn loose a sheet of flame and lead into their faces". He recalls it as such:

There was no artillery as such at this point upon either side, and not a rifle was discharged. The stillness was literally oppressive, as in close order, with the commander still riding in front, this column of Union infantry moved majestically into the charge. In a few minutes they were within easy range of our rifles, and some of my impatient men asked permission to fire. "Not yet," I replied. "Wait for the order." Soon they were so close that we might have seen the eagles on their buttons; but my brave and eager boys still waited for their order. Now the front rank was within a few rods of where I stood. It would not do to wait another second, and with all my lung power I shouted, "Fire!"

None of Gordon's men were injured here, until after the Union soldiers loaded their rifles and opened fire. Here, for the first time, Gordon himself was hit, not once, but five separate times by five Minie balls. The first two hit him in the leg, one through his calf and the second higher up in his leg. He was still able to walk, however, and continued down his line, encouraging his men. The third bullet pierced his left arm, while the fourth ripped through his shoulder. The fifth and final bullet struck him in the face, barely missing his jugular vein. With this bullet he lost consciousness, and credits a "Yankee" for saving his life, as he had shot a hole through Gordon's cap earlier in the battle, which allowed the blood to drain out. Fanny was immediately brought in, wanting to see her husband and nurse him back to health.

Antietam was probably the most crucial battle for Gordon, for here is where he was injured and so miraculously recovered. He labeled it "one of the most desperate though indecisive battles of modern times". The fighting lasted for only one day, September 17, 1862, but the destruction and losses were so great it has been labeled "The Bloodiest Day of the Civil War". In the end, neither side gained a decisive victory.

Gordon reported back to duty on March 30, 1863, with his facial wound still not entirely healed. He assumed command of a new group of soldiers, having lost all his men at Antietam. He then proceeded to attack a Union fort on Marze's Heights in Chancellorsville, which was successful. Gordon was back in control.

On May 6, less than a month before Gettysburg, Gordon was again promoted: this time to Brigadier General. He led his troops on to York, intending to go to Lancaster, then Harrisburg, then Philadelphia. While in, many of the people were afraid of the battered, filthy soldiers passing through, but Gordon quickly assured them they meant no harm to the citizens. He personally pledged the head of any soldier who destroyed private property or insulted a woman. The soldiers proved their honor when Union troops set the bridge afire at Wrightsville and Gordon's men formed a "bucket brigade" to put out the fire.

Passing through York, Pennsylvania

Gordon and his troops had intended to just pass through York on their way to Lancaster. While riding by, a little girl of about twelve years handed him a bouquet of flowers. Nestled mongst the roses was a note, which gave the numbers and positions of the Union forces in nearby Wrightsville, along with advice for Gordon's men; all of which turned out to be correct and very beneficial.

Gordon said of this aid, "The result of this movement vindicated the strategic wisdom of my unknown and -judging by the handwriting- woman correspondent, whose note was none the less martial because embedded in roses, and whose evident genius for war, had occasion offered, might have made her a captain equal to Catherine."

Instead of going on to Lancaster, as Gordon had planned, he was called to double back to Gettysburg, where Lee's forces were already in battle.

The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863

Gordon and his men reached Gettysburg around 3 p.m. on the first of July. When they got there, the battle had already been going on for four or five hours, so they immediately joined they fray, successfully driving back Union forces.

While riding forward with his men, Gordon came upon a severely wounded Union officer, who identified himself as Major-General Francis C. Barlow of New York. After seeing that Barlow was taken care of, he continued pressing on, as the Union forces were retreating and surrendering, until he was given the command to halt. He and his 1200 men were responsible for the capture of 1800 and the disabling of 1200-1500, all in less than an hour and with less than 380 casualties. He pressed onward through three "halt" commands, but reluctantly obeyed at the fourth. Gordon thought he could take the heights and assured a victory had there not been an order to halt, which he had to follow.

The Friendship of J.B. Gordon and Francis Barlow

Upon discovering Barlow lying prostrate in the field, Gordon gave him a drink of water from his canteen. He then moved him out of the hot July sun into the shade, and prepared to leave. However, Barlow stopped him with a request. Removing a stack of letters from his coat pocket, Barlow handed them to Gordon, explaining that they were his wife's letters. He asked Gordon to destroy them, and that if Gordon ever met his wife, would he please tell her that her husband had died willingly in the service of his country, and that his last thoughts were of her? Gordon learned that Barlow's wife was nearby, and decided to see her that evening. He then left Barlow, rejoining his brigade.

Unbeknownst to Gordon, Barlow recovered from his wounds and went on to serve in the Army of the Potomac. Hearing of the death of Confederate general J. B. Gordon, Barlow assumed that this was the man who had helped him that day at Gettysburg. The two men continued to each believe the other dead until some fifteen years later, when they chanced to meet upon one another at a dinner in the home of Clarkson Potter, member of the House of Representatives from New York.

That evening at the dinner, Gordon inquired of the former Union general if he was a relative of the Francis Barlow that died at Gettysburg. Barlow responded with, "Why, I am the man, sir. Are you related to the Gordon that killed me?" Gordon's response: "I am the man, sir." He later recalled that, "nothing short of the actual resurrection from the dead could have amazed either of us more." They renewed their friendship that night, and remained friends until Barlow's death in 1896.

Gordon was so upset that night that he was ordered to halt that he could not sleep, so he listened to the Union soldiers fortify a position, then rode to Generals Ewell and Early with a suggestion not to wait until daylight, but to attack now, or it would cost 10,000 men; to his dismay, his idea was shot down.

The second day, the fiercest struggle was for Little Round Top, which the Union managed to hold on to. The third morning, Lee was to assault; however, the Union right opened fire on the Confederate left, impatient of waiting for a morning attack that didn't come. This, along with the order to halt, is what Gordon believes lost the war for the Confederacy.

Scenes From Gettysburg

Little Round Top, center, and Big Round Top, right

Rocks atop Big Round Top

Looking down Big Round Top

View from top of Big Round Top, with a Pennsylvania Memorial at the left, and the path down Big Round Top to the right

Devil's Den

View of Little Round Top from Devil's Den

Looking down Little Round Top

Battlefield, now farmland; to the left in the distance is the National Tower

The Eternal Peace Light Memorial

Cannon along the Confederate Line

Cannons stretching into the distance

Following Gettysburg, Gordon and his men saw almost no combat for the next ten months. Then, on May 5, 1864 Gordon led his men into the Wilderness near Clark's Mountain, to the valley of Rapidan. General Ewell knew this battle was important to the survival of the Confederate Army, and told Gordon, "General Gordon, the fate of the day depends on you, sir" to which Gordon responded, "These men will save it, sir." He ordered them forward in a countercharge and broke through the center of the Union line, then shattered it, then surrounded the Union soldiers during the night. There was practically no resistance on the attack, and less than 60 casualties in the twilight attack.

The evening of May 7, Gordon began heading to the Spotsylvania Court House, Grant's next objective after his wilderness retreat. He had again been promoted, this time to Brigade Commander. He placed his men nearly equidistant from all frontline works so they could move quickly to support any part of the line that might be attacked. At the sound of fighting, he moved his men forward without waiting for orders, determined to drive back the Union forces. He repeatedly pushed his men forward until 3 a.m. on May 13, when the exhausted Confederates withdrew. Immediately after the struggle ended, Lee telegraphed President Jefferson Davis requesting promotion to Major General to the man whose actions "in the estimation of many [gave] an additional lease of 12 months to the life of the Confederacy." The promotion was granted on May 14.

Gordon at the Shenandoah Valley

Gordon achieved other, smaller victories in the Shenandoah Valley, along with a few losses. He and Lee met and decided the best course of action for the Confederates would be to attack. They decided to study the enemy's lines in Petersburg, and Gordon reported the best place to attack would be Fort Stedman. At 4 a.m. on March 25, 1865, Gordon's men rushed the fort, taking prisoners and artillery. Although the attack on the fort was largely successful, Gordon had not succeeded in breaking Grant's hold on Petersburg.

Gordon heard of Lee's intent to surrender amidst intense fighting. He was then appointed as one of three Confederate commissioners to complete the details of the surrender, along with Longstreet, Pendelton, and three Federal Generals. They met on April 11, 1865, and completed an agreement. The next morning, Gordon gathered his troops together for their march to the formal surrender. He sat straight in his saddle, with his head down and a somber expression, as did his men. As he got closer to the line of Union soldiers, he heard an order, a bugle call, and the sound of muskets being raised to the shoulder. He immediately snapped his head up and turned his horse toward Chamberlain. As the horse reared, Gordon raised his sword, then brought it down, bringing the tip to his toe in response to the Union tribute. He shouted a command to his men, who returned the salute to the Federal forces. It was, Chamberlain said, "honor answering honor".

Source: Crystal's Page, http://webpages.marshall.edu/~nester2/waryears.html, ca1999.

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Gordon's Life After the Surrender (1865-1904)

Immediately following the surrender at Appomattox, Gordon made his way back to Fanny, who was in Petersburg. Just ten days before, Fanny had given birth to their third son, John Brown Gordon, Jr. Upon finding them safe, they made their way back to Georgia.

The Gordons moved back to Atlanta, where Gordon worked to improve race relations, helping to build churches and schoolhouses for blacks. He advised them to educate themselves, and determined to help them as long as they were content to remain subordinate to the whites. He did not believe in racial equality, but supported segregation. He owned and worked a lumber business until 1867, when it fell upon hard times and collapsed. He suffered a loss of nearly $12,000, but refused to declare bankrupcy. He was then offered a position with the Southern Life Insurance Company, who found his military heroism a magnet, and planned to capitalize off his name. He took a role in management, and under his care, the company prospered. He also began working with publishing companies, including the University Publishing Company of Atlanta.

When George Meade called for a state election in 1867 to supply candidates for the Congress, the Georgia Democrats elected Gordon. As early as February 1, 1868, Gordon's name was banded as a candidate for the governorship. He accepted the nomination, and lost the first election. He refused to let this get him down, and successfully ran for the Senate in 1873. He finally became Governor of Georgia in 1886. On January 10, 1904, John Brown Gordon died, and the South mourned the loss of this great man. A statue was erected in his honor in Georgia on the state capitol grounds, dedicated and unveiled May 25, 1907.

Source: Crystal's Page, http://webpages.marshall.edu/~nester2/afterwar.html, ca1999.

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John Brown Gordon - a North Georgia Notable (1832-1904)

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

- President Theodore Roosevelt

- Ralph Lowell Eckert (Gordon's biographer)

John Brown Gordon was born in Upson County, Georgia on February 6, 1832 to Zachariah and Malinda Cox Gordon. John was the fourth of twelve children. At the time of his birth his father was a prominent minister and plantation owner. Around 1840, Zachariah moved his family to Walker County near Lafayette, where he built a summer resort hotel to take advantage of the medicinal appeal of springs on the property. The Gordon's hotel subsequently became one of the State's most fashionable watering places. Over two decades later, the Battle of Chickamauga was waged around the Gordon's property.

Although John was an outstanding student at the University of Georgia, he left before graduating and shortly thereafter moved to Atlanta, where he studied law and passed the bar. He married the sister-in-law of a partner in the firm where he studied law, Rebecca Haralson, daughter of General Hugh Anderson Haralson of LaGrange. Theirs was a long and happy marriage.

Because his law practice did not prosper, he became a journalist in Milledgeville, which was then Georgia's capital. However, he soon gave this up to settle in Dade County, where he and his father formed the Castle Rock Coal Company.

Through his participation in political campaigns, he became known as a brilliant and captivating orator--a skill he put to effective use during the War to inspire his men, one of whom said that before going into action Gordon made him feel that he could storm hell. A Confederate officer at Gettysburg recalled that the sight of Gordon mounted on his magnificent, coal-black stallion as being "the most glorious and inspiring thing" he had ever seen. It was, he declared, an unforgettable "splendid picture of gallantry." Gordon "standing in his stirrups, bare headed, hat in hand, arms extended and, in a voice like a trumpet, exhorting his men" was "absolutely thrilling."

At the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Gordon's soldierly, erect posture saved his life, as a ball went through the back of his coat, just missing his spine. He told an aide riding with him that if he rode curved over like he did, he would be a dead man.

Although the backbone of the Confederate Army's officer corps was composed of professional soldiers, many officers,including generals, were civilians turned soldier. Only a few of them gained the admiration of their professional brothers in arms. Gordon was one of these. Characterized by splendid audacity, in 1864, he was described by General Robert E. Lee in a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis as being one of his best brigadiers. His rise, says his biographer, Ralph Lowell Eckert in John Brown Gordon, Soldier, Southerner, American, from captain to corps commander was unmatched in the Army of Northern Virginia.

When war broke out in 1861, Gordon was living in Jackson County, Alabama, working in Georgia, and picking up his mail in Tennessee. Therefore, it is not surprising that the volunteer company he recruited for the Confederacy was composed of men from the Tri-State region. The Company, which called itself the Raccoon Roughs, left Atlanta for Montgomery after Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown declared that Georgia had all the troops it needed and offered its services to the State of Alabama, which incorporated them into an extra large 6th Alabama infantry. In the 6th Alabama's first taste of combat at Seven Pines, the Raccoon Roughs suffered heavy casualties. During the subsequent Seven Days Battles, as Gordon strode fearlessly among his men, enemy balls shattered the handle of his pistol, pierced his canteen, and tore away part of the front of his coat. Assigned by General Lee to hold an essential position during the Battle of Sharpsburg, Gordon's luck ran out..

Gordon's men were tremendously outnumbered. Their only hope, he decided, was for his men to hold their fire until the enemy troops were practically on top of them and then all fire at once. It worked. Their first volley downed almost the entire Yankee front line. Subsequent lines of Yankees met a similar fate. However, many Confederates, too, went down at what came to be called the Battle of Bloody Lane (a sunken road), including Gordon. First, a mini ball passed through his calf. He soldiered on. Then, a second ball hit him higher in the same leg. He soldiered on. 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 forth ball hit him in his shoulder. Despite pleas he go to the rear, he continued to lead his men. He was finally stopped by a ball which 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 there hadn't been a bullet hole in the cap. Nursed back to health by his wife, who stayed as near to him as possible until late in the war when, incapacitated by the birth of a baby, she ended up behind enemy lines in Virginia, he returned to duty and was put in command of six Georgia regiments. He was promoted to brigadier general after the Battle of Chancellorsville.

At the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse Lee's greatly outnumbered army was threatened with being cut in two. Only Gordon and his men could prevent this from happening. Lee was prepared to lead the charge of Gordon's men when Gordon rode up and said, in a voice loud enough for his men to hear: "General Lee, this is no place for you. These men behind you are Georgians and Virginians. They have never failed you and will not fail you here. Will you boys?"

"No, no, no, we'll not fail him," the men cried. Then they took up the chant, "Lee to the rear," and Gordon seized Lee's horse's bridle and ordered some men to take Lee to the rear.

Some believe that Gordon's success in turning back the Federals at this, the Bloody Angle, gave the Confederacy an additional year of life. Clearly, he inspired his men by his reaction to Lee's attempt to lead the charge.

Gordon's wife showed that she was made of similar stuff when she rushed out into the street at 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.

Although he was never promoted to lieutenant general, when the War ended Gordon had both the responsibilities and authority of a corps commander and was, according to Lee's biographer, Douglas Southall Freeman, "Lee's principal confidant--as far as any man every enjoyed that status."

Singularly fitted for attack, at War's end, he was "one of the most popular men in the South," claims Eckert. "In little more than a decade, he would be one of the most well known and respected Southerners in the United States."

Because fighting in North Georgia had damaged the Gordon's coal mines, and they lacked the money needed to reopen them, General Gordon had to look for a new occupation. After briefly owning and managing some sawmills near Brunswick, he moved to Kirkwood, an Atlanta suburb, and went into the insurance and publishing businesses. Unlike some other army officers whose military fame propelled them into the executive ranks of business firms after the War, he was active in the management of these firms.( He was president of the insurance company and vice president of the publishing company. The goal of the publishing company was "to create non-partisan school literature" that would help rid the nation and the South in particular of sectional hate. However, it also sought to promote Southern self-respect. In both letters and articles, Gordon pleaded for Southerners to "rid themselves of ternary bondage to the North in the school room."

Although he took meaningful steps to provide material help to blacks, he sought "a social harmony," claims Eckert, "in which whites were in control," and in 1871 he admitted to a congressional committee that he had once belonged to a secret organization whose purpose was to protect whites from a race war he believed the activities of carpetbaggers might stir up. The group had to be secret, he said, because, otherwise, the government might see it as a threat to it.

Before and during the War he had been urged to run for public office, but had not done so. After the War he was persuaded to do so. In his first race in 1868, in which he opposed Republican Rufus B. Bullock for the governorship of Georgia, he lost. In 1872, the Georgia General Assembly, which then selected the State's U.S. Senators, elected him to represent Georgia in Washington. Shortly after arriving in Washington, he became the first Confederate to preside over the U.S. Senate. The next day he obtained a promise from President U. S. Grant, with whom he been friendly with since Appomattox, to remove Federal officials in Georgia who had gained them through fraud or corruption.

In the Senate, he concentrated on economic issues and fostering national reconciliation. He was hailed by the New York Times as "the ablest man from the South in either House of Congress."

A frequent ploy by some Republicans at that time was to respond to any Southerner's position on an issue with diatribes about the South's culpability for the War, during which they called Southerners traitors, murders, and barbarians. Finally unwilling to tolerate any more of this in silence, Gordon rose to declare that, "when the people of my section are held up to the gaze of the civilized world as murders, assassins, and semi-barbarians, I feel that further silence will subject them to a more cruel misconstruction than can be extorted from any perversion, however gross and unjust, of my utterances here."

Denying that murder had become an "everyday occurrence in the South," he claimed that (white) Southerners had shown remarkable forbearance in the face of the overthrow of their state governments; the unconstitutional usurpation of their rights; military occupation; social disruption; and the incitement of the South's black population. "No people," he said, "in the history of the world have ever been so misunderstood, so misjudged, and so cruelly maligned" as the people of the South. During this speech, he was frequently interrupted by applause from the galleries.

Gordon labored mightily to get Federal troops removed and home rule restored in the last two Southern states so burdened, Louisiana and South Carolina, and he received much of the credit for the "redemption" of these states via the Democrats agreeing to the elevation of Hayes to the presidency in exchange for their redemption. (The Democrats' candidate, Tilden, was denied the presidency by the throwing out of the contested Tilden victory in Louisiana and South Carolina.)

Mistakes made by the Memphis branch of the insurance company whose Atlanta branch Gordon headed caused the company to go bankrupt. Gordon's financial status remained precarious for the rest of life and gave substance to claims that he exchanged political favors for money.

He obtained the gratitude of many North Georgians when he obtained presidential clemency for a large number of North Georgians convicted of selling illegal liquor. However, substantial North-Georgia-based opposition to him that persisted for years developed nonetheless. Union sentiment had been strong in North Georgia, and there was long standing resentment in North Georgia of the political domination of the State by its Black Belt counties, and in 1874, an Independence movement centered in North Georgia that Gordon opposed arose.

Gordon was recruited by the Democratic Party to stamp out this party-splitting movement. He campaigned extensively for the regular Democratic Party candidate in the Bloody Seventh district, where its Congressional candidate was opposed by Dr. William H. Felton of Bartow County. Despite Gordon's efforts, Felton was elected. It was during this campaign that what was to be a long and bitter conflict between Gordon and Felton's wife, Rebecca Latimer Felton, began.

Despite opposition from some North Georgians, Gordon was nearly unanimously reelected. The Independent movement and Mrs. Felton, however, continued to be a thorn in his side. Gordon's opposition to this movement was based on his belief that the formation of a third party would lead to the victory of the Republican Party, a party, he said was "conceived in passion, born of fanaticism and baptized in blood" .

According to Mrs. Felton's biographer, "[F]ate could not have harassed Gordon with a more formidable opponent: a lady who insisted on being considered a lady even while she was employing all the bare-knuckled tactics of a belligerent man." She hated no other prominent Georgian "so long and wholeheartedly" as Gordon, and she vented it in the Felton's Cartersville Free Press, in which she accused him of a wide variety of personal and political sins.

Shortly after well-publicized conflict with Alexander H. Stephens, Georgians were shocked by the announcement that Gordon had resigned from the Senate. A second shock was soon to follow: Governor Alfred H. Colquitt appointed the controversial and unelectable Joseph E. Brown to replace Gordon. (Governor of Georgia before and during the War, after the War Brown, a North Georgian popular with the Independents, had become a Republican, but had by this time switched back to being a Democrat.)

Praise of Gordon was quickly replaced by accusations that the financially distressed Gordon had resigned in exchange for financial gain. (Unlike Gordon, Brown, president of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, was a successful businessman.) Gordon said he resigned out of concern for his family's well being and having tired of public life. Many Georgians believed him.

Recently discovered telegrams, some of which are in code, between middleman Henry W. Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution and promoter of railroad development, and Brown and others suggests there was a deal, although it does appear Gordon had decided to leave the Senate to improve his financial condition before the deal which, for Gordon, meant becoming the general counsel of the L&N Railroad and obtaining a charter for a proposed and subsequently built railroad connecting Atlanta and Birmingham, was arranged.

Although Gordon quickly made a lot of money, as one of his daughters admitted, "My father was a military genius, a man of imagination and creative ability, and a great statesman, but he was not a practical businessman." As aggressive and optimistic in business as he had in been in war, Gordon invested in a very wide variety of businesses and a white elephant plantation in Taylor County. He lost most of his money in a failed venture to build a railroad from Georgia to Key West and establish a steamship line to linking it to Latin America.

Having decided to return to politics and run for governor, he enlisted Henry W. Grady's aid in drumming up interest in a Gordon candidacy. Grady's stroke of genius was to persuade the B. H. Hill Monument Committee to invite Jefferson Davis to come to Atlanta after delivering an address in Montgomery, the Confederacy's first capital. Davis' presence, it was assumed, at Gordon's side would draw a huge crowd, and huge crowds did greet the train carrying Davis and Gordon from Montgomery to Atlanta at every stop. The frail Davis soon tired. So, putting his hand on Gordon's shoulder, he declared, "This is my Aaron; let him speak for me." Thereafter, Gordon spoke in place of "this dear old chief of ours." Davis' heart, Gordon explained, "as well as his tongue, is full of eloquence, but his years are almost gone, and it is enough for us to look upon his face."

After the dedication ceremonies Davis traveled to Atlanta to attend, a Gordon supporter jumped up among a crowd gathered at Atlanta's Kimball House and proposed that Gordon give a speech that night. Cries of Gordon for Governor rang out, and Gordon appeared on the balcony. He decline to speak, but said that "This is the happiest day of my life. My heart is full and it is all yours." Grady, who Gordon would later break with, bragged to friends that Confederate money would be good by midnight.

Up until then, courthouse meetings had been relied upon to select nominees for governor. Gordon proposed that this be changed and that the will of the people be determined by direct primaries in each county. This would slow down the nomination process; thus giving Gordon a chance to use his eloquence and display the scar on his face that reminded people he had fought and bled for the South to gain support. The heretofore leader in the race for the nomination, Augustus O. Bacon, opposed this proposal. Grady castigated in the pages of the influential Constitution as "conspirators and wirepullers" those who wished to retain the old system.

Grady instructed Gordon's supporters "to station one-armed or one-legged Confederate veterans at all the crossroads to enlist the attendance of other veterans in the county at a caucus one hour before the convention opened." If it looked as though the county convention was going to support Bacon, the veterans were told to disrupt the meeting and demand a primary.

Bacon and his supporters vilified Gordon, claiming he was part of an Atlanta Ring and a paid lackey of the railroads. His participation in the convict lease system and the "deal" that put Brown in the Senate were criticized. His failures as a businessmen, they said, meant he could not be trusted to manage Georgia's finances. (Gordon tried for years to get rid of his convict lease before succeeding, and he promised to work for the elimination of the convict lease system if elected.) Gordon won the nomination with 322 votes out of 332. ( By then, nomination by the Democratic Party was tantamount to election.) He ran unopposed in the general election.

In his inaugural address on November 9, 1886, Gordon concentrated, says Eckert, on what he considered to be the greatest danger facing Georgia and all the other states: the states' steady loss of "constitutional vigor or power of self-preservation...by gradual accretions to federal power and imperceptible absorption of state functions."

With Brown and Colquitt in the U.S. Senate, Gordon's election, says Eckert, "represented the height of the Bourbon Triumvirate's rule of Georgia". The Triumvirate: Gordon, Colquitt, and Brown, with Grady's help, were, he says, "the most conspicuous figures" in Georgia's political arena in the last decades of the nineteenth century. As New South leaders, they supported industrialization. They also "cut taxes, checked government spending, limited government services, and kept the forces of social change at bay."

After his proposal for abolishing the convict lease system was turned down by the General Assembly, Gordon inaugurated the most thorough investigation of the system ever conducted. His hands, however, were pretty much tied by the fact the leases did not expire until 1896, and he the state did not have the funds to take care of the prisoners if the leases were voided (on the basis of inhumane treatment of prisoners).

In 1888, he was reelected. (Governor's term in office was then two years.) In Eckert's opinion, Gordon accomplished nothing of importance during the four years he was governor. While in office, in partnership with his sons, he continued to invest in a variety of businesses, and when the United Confederate Veterans was organized in 1889, he was made the group's president.

In poor health, Joe Brown decided not to run for reelection, and Gordon decided to seek to fill the U.S. Senate seat thus left vacant. By that time, farmers agitated by their poor financial condition, had organized a Farmers Alliance that threatened to swallow the Democratic Party in Georgia. By opposing the sub treasury plan it supported, Gordon lost the backing of many farmers. (Under this plan farmers could store for later sale nonperishable commodities in government warehouses at a minimal cost. By enabling them to spread the sale of these commodities over the year, they expected to be able to sell at higher average prices.)

Nonetheless, Gordon was elected. Eckert explains his much lower level of activity than during his earlier service in the Senate to "his advanced age, frequent bouts of ill health, new business ventures, involvement with veterans organizations, and extensive lecture tours..."

The Democrats were in control of the national government when the Panic of 1893 hit; thus making the "Democracy the party of depression". Gordon responded by advocating the repeal of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890; the development of a more sound monetary system based on bimetallism (gold and silver); reducing tariffs; and the repeal of the federal tax on state bank notes. (At that time, banks issued paper currency: bank notes, and to force state chartered banks to convert to federal charters, a federal tax had been levied on any banknotes they issued.) These recommendations were consistent with Gordon's support of a more expansionary monetary policy to deal with depressed conditions in the 1870s. As happened then, however, they fell on deaf ears.

When Coxey's army descended upon Washington demanding government-sponsored work relief, Gordon explained that like movements were absent in the South because after the War the South, "Shut out from all hope of governmental relief...learned to lean not upon the legislative arm, but upon their right arm." Southerners, he said, did not look upon the government as a fostering mother from which to draw sustenance or relief in periods of depression.

Gordon won great praise when he supported President Cleveland's decision to sent troops to Chicago to put down a violent strike against the Pullman Company (manufacturer of railway sleeping cars). After a speech in which he supported the upholding of the law that some considered to be his greatest speech, senators from both sides of aisle, including some former Union generals, congratulated Gordon. Back home, he sought to blunt the growing popularity of the Populist Party, which he branded as radical and socialistic. Then, in 1896, he declared he was retiring from politics.

"During the last decade of his life," says Eckert, "Gordon remained extremely active in his efforts to vindicate the South and at the same time to establish a new spirit of nationalism" by embarking on a career as a lecturer. Three months before his death in 1904, he published a book, Reminiscences of the Civil War, which went through several printings in its first year. Eckert characterizes this book as a "charming, completely inoffensive account of his wartime experiences".

Source: Carole E. Scott, http://ngeorgia.com/people/gordon.html, ca1999.

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