MAJ.-GEN. JOHN B. GORDON.

CHAPTER L.

Appearance of a new hero in the last year of the war.-Ancestral stock of John B. Gordon.-"The Raccoon Roughs."-The 6th Alabama at Seven Pines.-Personal heroism of Col. Gordon.-At South Mountain.-His bloody and picturesque figure on the field of Sharpsburg.-Gen. Gordon as an orator.-A soldier's commentary on his eloquence.-His part in the Pennsylvania campaign.-A telling speech to Yankee women.-His counsels at Gettysburg.-His splendid action in the Wilderness. A night attack upon the enemy.-Gen. Gordon rides through the enemy's lines. His glorious counter-charge at Spottsylvania Court-House.—His part in the Valley campaign of 1864.—A novel and interesting version of the battle of Cedar Creek.-Gen. Gordon's plan of attack rejected or not executed by Gen. Early.His position and figure in the last scene at Appomattox Court-House.—Review of his military services.-A representative of the "Young South."-His admirable sentiment and advice since the surrender.

In the last periods and declining fortunes of the war, a new and lustrous name appeared in the army of Virginia, kindling the admiration and hopes of the people. It is well remembered how repeated, towards the last scenes of the war, was the name "Gordon"; and men who had watched for the successor to Jackson and prayed for "a day of their lost Dundee," declared that he had at last appeared in the fiery Georgian. The bright and growing light however was soon extinguished in the swift sequence of disaster, surrender and submission; and the last sad story of the war, at Appomattax Court-House, was ended with Gordon in the front-Gordon and his 2,000 men prepared to cut through the enemy, arming to die, willing to give to the Army of Northern Virginia its last example of desperate courage, its dying testimony of devotion. It was not permitted. And it was not necessary. In these last days, Gordon was the thunderbolt of the

Army of Northern Virginia; his name was familiar in every circle of admiration; and yet it was a novel name to those who used it most familiarly, and men, regarding the new hero as a sort of apparition, scarcely knew his former military life, or remembered the slow and painful steps of the young officer commencing at the early part of the war the ladder of fame, and climbing it almost unnoticed, until the popular shout hailed him in the last stages of his adventure.

It is our task to go back to the commencement of this career, and to present, in a summary sketch, the military life of this remarkable man. John B. Gordon was born in Upson County, Georgia, February 6, 1832. The family is descended from the Gordons of Scotland; came to America shortly before the Revolution of 1776, and made its mark in the eight years' war. The grandfather of the subject of our sketch volunteered in the Continental army at fourteen years of age, and served through the entire war. One of his brothers distinguished himself by a singular feat in the battle of King's Mountain-rushing in charge upon the British lines, seizing one of the officers by his queue, and running down the side of the mountain with him!

At the time the South was aroused for war, John B. Gordon was engaged in some mining enterprises, and was living in Jackson county, Alabama. When it was ascertained that Abraham Lincoln was elected President, he raised a company of cavalry and offered it to Governor Moore; but it was declined, as cavalry was not then needed. He then raised an infantry company, styled "Raccoon Roughs," the men having been raised around Raccoon Mountain. This company was accepted as one of the ten to compose the 6th Alabama regiment, and Gordon was elected Major. The regiment was sent to Manassas, and put in Ewell's brigade, where it had no opportunity of action in the first great battle of the war, in July, 1861. Gordon was afterwards elected Lieutenant-Colonel, and when the regiment re-organized at Yorktown, in April, 1862, he was by a unanimous vote of the men elevated to the position of Colonel.

"Seven Pines" was the first serious engagement of the 6th Alabama. But in this single battle it made a record of glory sufficient for all time, and achieved the bloodiest and most brilliant success of the day. More than two-thirds of Gordon's entire

command were killed or wounded. The Lieut.-Colonel, the Major, and the Adjutant were all killed. Every horse ridden into the fight was killed, the one on which Gordon was mounted being the last to fall under his rider. The terrible scene of death occurred when the brave Alabamians, having taken the Federal breastworks, were ordered to drive the enemy from a dense swamp, in and around which the timber had been felled, making an almost impassible abattis. In this charge, through a galling fire, Col. Gordon felt it his duty to ride at the head of his regiment; although the fact, that he was left as the only mounted officer, drew the fire of the enemy's sharpshooters upon him. His horse had been shot in the breast, but was still able to carry him. He rode so near the enemy's lines that officers and men distinctly heard the Federal command, "Bring down that man on horseback," "Shoot that dd Colonel," etc. His noble animal at last fell under him, his clothing was pierced by three bullets, but, yet unhurt, he stood at the post of danger, and the men held the ground they had won, without a sign of wavering, until they were ordered to retire. His escape was almost miraculous, and he had survived in the midst of a great carnage. Out of 600 men, 396 were killed or wounded, and in one company of forty there were only ten survivors. The men had fallen so rapidly that it was impossible to carry them to the rear, and, as they fought mostly in water several feet deep, men had to be detailed to raise the heads of the badly wounded to prevent them from drowning.

In this fight, Gen. Rodes, commander of the brigade in which was the 6th Alabama, was wounded, and, although Col. Gordon was not the senior officer present, he was placed in command during the absence of Rodes. He participated in the seven days battles around Richmond, and at Malvern Hill was in command of Rodes' brigade, and led the desperate charge upon the Federal batteries for half a mile through an open field. His brigade was first in the charge and left its dead nearer the enemy's guns than did any other Confederate troops. Nearly one half the command were killed or wounded in the terrible onset; and the Colonel had the butt of his pistol carried away by a ball, the breast of his coat torn open by another, and his canteen at his side shot through by a third. So greatly did he expose himself, and so wonderful had been his escapes, that his men began to think, and

frequently said, "The ball has not been moulded that can hurt Col. Gordon!"

On Lee's march to Maryland, Gordon commanded the first Confederate infantry (Rodes' brigade) that crossed the Potomac. In the battle of Boonsboro, or South Mountain, he returned to the immediate command of his regiment, Gen. Rodes having taken command of his brigade at Frederick city. In this action, Gordon again distinguished himself. Gen. Rodes, in his official report, declared, "Col. Gordon handled his regiment in a manner I have never seen or heard equalled during the war." Of his conduct in the fight Gen. D. H. Hill reported that, "Col. Gordon, the Christian hero, excelled his former deeds at Seven Pines and in the battles around Richmond. Our language is not capable of expressing a higher compliment."

But it was reserved for this heroic commander, on the closely subsequent field of Sharpsburg, to give a surpassing and sublime evidence of devotion, to show a Roman spirit, such as has been scarcely equalled in any patriotic struggle of modern times. In the disposition for the battle, Gordon's regiment occupied a salient in the Confederate line. It was his habit, before taking his men into action, to make a few remarks, designed to act upon their imaginations and raise their enthusiasm; and, indeed, he was a remarkable orator, if the test of eloquence is the effect produced. As Gen. D. H. Hill was riding along the line just before the fight began, looking with evident concern at weak portions of it, Gordon, anxious to strengthen his men in their determination to hold their position, exclaimed: "Gen. Hill, you need not fear for this portion of the line. These men are going to stay here." The men caught the spirit of the words, and the assurance was carried along the line, "Yes, we have come to stay." Alas! little did the poor fellows know the dread significance of these words, and how many of them were to stay on that ground, locked in death's embrace!

And now commenced a slaughter at which the imagination recoils. Line after line of the enemy was repulsed by the gallant regiment, with a devouring fire both on its front and right flank. Only six men from the whole right wing of the regiment escaped; all the others, officers and men, were killed or wounded. Col. Gordon was wounded twice, early in the fight, two balls passing

through his right leg, but he refused to leave the field. An hour later, he was shot again, a ball passing through his left arm, and making a hideous and most painful wound, mangling the tendons and muscles, and severing a small artery. He bled rapidly, his arm was completely disabled, and his whole system greatly shocked. A little while and another ball penetrated his shoulder, leaving its base in the wound. This was a terrible and almost fatal shock to his already weakened powers, but he yet persisted in remaining on the field, and, haggard and bloody, turned to his men and waved them on to the fight. Even in their own peril, the troops were more anxious about their commander; they saw his gray uniform almost crimson from the blood of so many wounds, and they heard him declare that he would not leave them as long as he had strength to utter a word of command. He had taken the idea that all his men were to be killed or wounded, and he determined to share the patriotic sacrifice. At last the fifth ball struck him, passed entirely through the left cheek, and brought him senseless to the ground. Besides the five balls which seriously wounded him, two had cut his clothes, one passing through his cap, the other through his pocket, indenting the steel clasp of his purse; and a third one had struck him on the breast, making a severe bruise. The courage that had thus defied death, and kept the field with five unstaunched wounds, was sublime; and the characters of heroic resolution were written, clear and stern to the last, in the pale face stained with blood.

He fell near the lines of the enemy and was for a brief time unnoticed. Describing to a friend his sensations as he awoke to consciousness, Col. Gordon said: "While lying on the ground, my thoughts were curious. I imagined that a shell had carried away about half of my head, and I discussed with myself the question whether I was a dead or living 'rebel.' I reasoned thus: 'if you are dead, you can't move a limb; if you are not dead, you should be able to draw up your right leg.' For no other reason than to test the question I was thus discussing, I made an effort and moved one of my legs. It brought me into full possession of my senses, when I scrambled back towards my men, and was carried to the rear by some of them."

For several months his life hung by a thread. He had been conveyed to Winchester, where his devoted wife, who hovered