The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1904-02-12
come promoters of sectional peace and

A1A5 liASs 4 l. IAN S4o y X
by word and pen and deed than II
southern man to assuage the
of animosity and restore real
harmony and fraternal GOOD will b.
tween the north and south.
Gordon's Ancestry.
Lieutenant General Gordon was bora
in Upson county, Georgia, July s, 1892.
of Scotch ancestry, his grandfather be-
ing one Of seven brothers who immi-
grated from Scotland previous to the
revolutionary war, in which they all
took part in behalf Of the olonies The
grandfather made his home in Wilkes
county, North Carolina, whence the
Rev. Zachariah H. Gordon, father Of
General Gordon, removed to Georgia. !,
Young Gordon vas graduated In 1852
from the Georgia state university, and
q few months later was admitted to the
practice of aw. Early in 1851 he en-
listed with the volunteer confederate
soldiery, and was elected captain OF
his company, rising by promotion to
OF the Sixth Alabama infantry In De-
cember, 1861.
His regiment was called to Virginia
to participate in the struggle on The
peninsula and assigned to rhodes
brigade of d. H. HilIs division, and on
April 2S, 1862, he was promoted colo
mel. At the battle of Seven Pines, dur
ing the gallant advance of his brigade.
Rhodes was severely wounded, and the
command devolved upon Gordon as
senior colonel. At Malvern Hill he
again commanded the brigade, and led
1t in the magnificent charge delivered
against the federal position by Hills
division. Commissioned brigadier gem
eral November /, 1852, he was assigned
to the command of a gallant brigade of
Georgians, the Thirteenth, Twenty
sixth, Thirty-first, Thirty-eighth. Six
tieth and Sixty-first. regiments, which
he commanded at Chancellorsville, and
in the Pennsylvania campaign.
Leading In Early's advance upon Har-
risburg, Gordon reached the Susquehanna
at Wrightsville, making the most Extend
ed advance into the United States terri
tory achieved in the east during the four
| years war, Recalled on account of the
concentration at Gettysburg, on the frst
day of the struggle there he participated
promptly in the determined attack from
the north which drove the federals through
the town to the strong position which they
subsequently held. During the NoVem-
Der operations of that year he. with his
brigade, participated in the fighting be-
low the Rapidan.
Soldiers Loved Gordon.
On the memorable 9Th of May. when
Ewel's corps struck the first blow against
! the advancing columns of Grant in the
| Wilderness, Gordon's brigade, after Jones
had been driven back, advanced, repulsed
the union soldiers, and re-establ1shed the
confederate line. On the following lay,
in Of two brigades, he made. a
sudden attack at sunset on Sedgwicks
corps, with such gallantry that the union
army was driven from q large part of Its
works and 600 prisoners captured, among
them Generals Seymour and Smaller. In
the succeeding struggle at S~pottsylVan1a
Court House General Gordon was paruc-
ufarly distinguished as the commander
of EWell's division. Immediately after
johnson was overwhelmed by Hancock
he threw his division in front Of the vic-
torious union soldiers. General Lee rode
M and evidently intended to lead the
men In the charge, SO imminent was the
peril of the army. Gordon demonstrated;
the men cried, Lee to the rear" and one
Of them. seizing the generals prldle' LED
his horse back, while the charge was
made with fury, and the union soldiers
were driven back to the base of the
"Bloody Angle where the fght continued
with unparalleled fury during the day.
On May IA, 1864, Gordon was promoted
major general and put in command OF q
division composed of Evans Georgia bri-
qade. Hayes' and Stafford's Louisiana
brigades, and Terry's Virginia brigade,
made up of the remnants of the StoneWal
brigade and others. With this command
he ioined Breckenridge and Early, after
the battle of Cold Harbor, In the repulse
of Hunter, moved to Harper's Ferry, at
tackled Maryland Heights, and at Mono
: cacy led the attack on the right winch oe
i, featcd Lew Wallace.
After this campaign ended before thu
: dcfenses Of Washington, Gordon had G
| prominent part in the fighting in thu
) Shenandoah valley under Early, ana wa:
} especially distinguished on the furious al
: tack on Sheridan's army early IN the DAY
at Cedar Creek. Returning to the lines a
} Petersburg. he was assigned to the com
mand Of the Second corps, Army 0
Northern Virginia. In March, with abou
half Of the depleted army at his dis
! posal, he made a desperate sally and cap
= tured Fort tedman and parts of the lin
to the eight and lef of 1t, but was unabl
to hold the position. He held the las
: lines at Petersburg and fought with stub
born valor for every inch of space. III
q guarded the retreat from the city witt
brave resistance to the attacks OF tn
enemy, and at A~ppomattox Court Hous
was put in of that half OF Lee
4 army which was intended to cut through
t Grants line had not the surrender beel
$ determined upon. In an official report 9
q General D. II. Hill, General Gordon wa
designated "the Chevalier Bayard of tn
e confederate army"
d When HostiIities Had Ended.
When hostilities had ended he called hi
L heroic men about MIN ana ADVISED tne1
to bear the trial and work for the futur
e Of the country. With the same policy
8 that peace hath her victories no less re
g nowned thar war; he ever since consis
IS entity labored for the advancement of tn
lie south in a unified country. He took
: prominent part in the national CONVEX
tons of his party since 1868, was a cand
,e date for governor Of Georgia in 1868, an
It in 1873 and 1879 was elected United State
,e senator. Resigning in 1880, he activel
h participated nthe building Of the Georgl
w Pacific railroad. In 1886 and 1888 he we
q elected governor. and In 1890 again Ell
tered the United States senate for 81
years service. Since then he retired fro
political activity, and was remarkab
10 successful in presenting at the north
lie well a sthe south a famous lecture upc
ne 9Th Last Days of the Confederacy
IS Since the organization of the United Co
10 federate Veterans of the United Stat
IN he held the honorable position as cor
m ma~nder-.n-chief Of that great fratern
tn order, and the memorable occasion VIII
49, he attempted to resign this position, b
IT. was unanimously and enthusiastically I
ne elected. testified to the warmth. Of 6
lection in which he was held by the 81
vivors of the army.
es Personally, General Gordon was a m
to like; his conversation was frank, a.
It's mated, natural, vivid, and persuasive, a