John Brown Gordon (1832-1904)
Confederate Lieutenant General;
U.S. Senator and Governor of Georgia
Though he was by trade a lawyer with no military training before the Civil War, John Brown Gordon proved to be an excellent commander in battle. Gordon was given command of a Georgian brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia and fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At Gettysburg Gordon helped the wounded Union Gen. Francis Barlow, with whom he established a lifelong friendship. As a brigadier general in the Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864, Gordon planned and carried out a brilliant attack.
After the Confederacy surrendered, the distinguished general returned to Georgia, where he resumed his law practice in Atlanta. Elected a U.S. senator in 1873 and 1879, Gordon resigned in May 1880 to promote a railroad venture. He was elected governor of Georgia in 1886, and returned to the U.S. Senate from 1891 to 1897. General Gordon was made commander in chief of the United Confederate Veterans when the group was first organized. He held the position until his death in 1904. He died in Miami, Fla., at the age of 71 and was buried in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta, GA.