A beautiful statue of him on horseback stands in front of the Georgia state capitol. No calls to remove it yet.
Assigned by General Lee to hold the vital sunken road, or “Bloody Lane”, during the Battle of Antietam, Gordon’s propensity for being wounded reached new heights. First, a Minié ball passed through his calf. Then, a second ball hit him higher in the same leg. 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. A fourth ball hit him in his shoulder. Despite pleas that he go to the rear, he continued to lead his men. He was finally stopped by a ball that 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 it had not drained out through a bullet hole in the cap. A Confederate surgeon thought he would not survive but after he was returned to Virginia, he was nursed back to health by his wife.[6]
Definitely one of the great careers of the Civil War.
Gordon was one of those rare individuals that rose to high rank in the army without West Point credentials. He was a part time lawyer when the war started. With no military training at all, he was elected captain of Co I 6th Alabama Infantry in May 1861. Three years and eleven months later he commanded the 2nd Corp of the Army of Northern Virginia. One of his last military duties was the rather onerous task of surrendering the ANV’s infantry to the Union Army at Appomattox.
Is this who Fort Gordon was named after?
My brother was there in 1964 for Signal Corps training.
for later