Confederate Brigadier General. Born in Tennessee in 1826, when he was five years old, the Gordon family moved to Lafayette county, Missouri. He enlisted in Doniphan's Missouri regiment during the Mexican War and served as a private and bugler. After the war he prospected for gold in California. Returning to Missouri, he became a store owner in 1858. When Governor Jackson proclaimed the establishment of the Missouri State Guard at the beginning of the American Civil War, Gordon was one of the first men to enlist. He was severly wounded at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. He assisted General Joseph Shelby in raising the 5th Missouri Cavalry that was mustered into the service of the Confederacy on September 12, 1862. Gordon was elected the 5th's lieutenant colonel. The "Knightly Gordon" served under General Shelby throughout the war. He participated in numerous battles, skirmishes, and raids in Missouri and Arkansas. On May 16, 1865, one month after Appomattox, General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi, assigned Gordon to duty as brigadier general. Upon the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi forces, Gordon fled to Mexico; but quickly returned to Missouri. He died in 1866 at home in Waverly, Missouri.
Confederate Brigadier General. Born in Tennessee in 1826, when he was five years old, the Gordon family moved to Lafayette county, Missouri. He enlisted in Doniphan's Missouri regiment during the Mexican War and served as a private and bugler. After the war he prospected for gold in California. Returning to Missouri, he became a store owner in 1858. When Governor Jackson proclaimed the establishment of the Missouri State Guard at the beginning of the American Civil War, Gordon was one of the first men to enlist. He was severly wounded at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. He assisted General Joseph Shelby in raising the 5th Missouri Cavalry that was mustered into the service of the Confederacy on September 12, 1862. Gordon was elected the 5th's lieutenant colonel. The "Knightly Gordon" served under General Shelby throughout the war. He participated in numerous battles, skirmishes, and raids in Missouri and Arkansas. On May 16, 1865, one month after Appomattox, General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Department of the Trans-Mississippi, assigned Gordon to duty as brigadier general. Upon the surrender of the Trans-Mississippi forces, Gordon fled to Mexico; but quickly returned to Missouri. He died in 1866 at home in Waverly, Missouri.
Bio by: Thomas Fisher
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Gordon memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
