Early’s division. He performed to his usual
high standards, handling his men well and
winning additional praise. The following year,
during the overland campaign against Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant, he rendered especially im-
portant work. On May 12, 1864, during the
bloody Battle of Spotsylvania, Union troops
under Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock managed
to break Lee’s line at an area known as the
Mule Shoe. Losses proved so horrific to both
sides that the site was more aptly rechris-
tened Bloody Angle. But Gordon, at a critical
juncture, counterattacked and drove the dis-
organized enemy back. This single action
saved the entire Confederate army from im-
pending destruction. Consequently, Gordon
rose to major general and accompanied Gen-
eral Early throughout his campaign in the
Shenandoah Valley. He fought in a succession
of victories over Union forces during the raid
upon Washington, D.C., including the defeat
of Gen. Lew Wallace at Monocacy. Gordon
also rendered useful service during the suc-
cessful counterattack at Cedar Creek, which
nearly drove Gen. Philip H. Sheridan’s army
out of the valley. Gordon’s division subse-
quently rejoined Lee’s Army of Northern Vir-
ginia and occupied siege lines around Peters-
burg, Virginia, and there he assumed
command of the II Corps.
Curiously, Gordon was not promoted to
lieutenant general, but he nonetheless be-
came one of only five Confederate leaders
who attained corps-level command without
formal military education. It was also during
this time that he became a close confidant of
General Lee, who trusted his military judg-
ment. Gordon’s last action of the war oc-
curred on March 25, 1865, when he launched
a skillful night attack that temporarily cap-
tured Fort Stedman, Virginia. Fresh Union
troops then forced him back, and he accom-
panied Lee’s retreat out of the Richmond
area. Gordon conducted a tenacious rear-
guard action to buy Lee extra time, but he
was finally overwhelmed at Sayler’s Creek on
April 6, 1865. The surviving Confederates
were then surrounded at Appomattox, and
Gordon was requested to draw up documents
outlining Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant.
This final act was performed with great
solemnity on April 12, 1865. Given his
renown and personal popularity, Gordon was
chosen by Lee to lead the ragtag Confeder-
ates out of camp to stack their arms. While
performing this act, the Union troops under
Gen. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain pre-
sented their arms in a salute of respect—
which was as quickly returned. Having con-
cluded this final military gesture with dignity
and reserve, Gordon harangued his men to
accept defeat and return home peacefully.
Gordon’s postwar services as a popular
soldier-statesman proved of equal importance
to the South. Drawn to politics, he was
elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat in
1873, becoming the first former Confederate
to preside over that body. He also quickly es-
tablished himself as a leading voice for na-
tional reconciliation. As such he urged fellow
Southerners to accept defeat and work
wholeheartedly for unification. He also pre-
vailed on Northern politicians to end the pe-
riod of military government known as Recon-
struction and allow for restoration of home
rule. In his role as an articulate spokesman
for the “New South,” Gordon proved instru-
mental in convincing Georgians to embrace
technology, accept industrialization, and end
the region’s traditional dependence on agri-
culture. Gordon resigned his Senate seat in
1879 to pursue business in railroads, but in
1886 he was elected governor. Two years later
he was back in the U.S. Senate, and he finally
retired from politics in 1897. Even in his final
years, Gordon devoted himself to healing old
wounds and actively traveled the lecture cir-
cuit. When the United Confederate Veterans
was established in 1890, he was unanimously
appointed its first commander in chief, a posi-
tion he held until his death in Miami, Florida,
on January 9, 1904.
Whether leading a charge on the battlefield
or pursuing a national dream in politics, Gor-
don was fearless, tenacious, and uniformly
successful. His career embodied the Ameri-GORDON, JOHNBROWN