George Henry Gordon
Brig. Gen. George H. Gordon
Born	(1823-07-19)July 19, 1823 Charlestown, Massachusetts
Died	August 30, 1886(1886-08-30) (aged 63) Framingham, Massachusetts
Place of burial	Framingham Centre, Framingham, Massachusetts
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1846–1854, 1861–1865
Rank	Brigadier General BrevetMajor General
Battles / wars	Mexican–American War Battle of Cerro Gordo American Civil War Jackson's Valley campaign Battle of Antietam

George Henry Gordon (July 19, 1823 – August 30, 1886) was an American lawyer and aUnion general in theAmerican Civil War.

Gordon was born inCharlestown, Massachusetts. He moved toFramingham, Massachusetts at the age of five with his widowed mother. He graduated from theUnited States Military Academy in 1846, 43rd in a class of 59 cadets. He served underLt. Gen.Winfield Scott in theMexican–American War, earning thebrevet offirst lieutenant for gallantry atCerro Gordo. He resigned from the army in 1854. After taking a course in theHarvard Law School, he practiced law inBoston.

When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Gordon organized and became colonel of the2nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The regiment served guarding the upperPotomac River andFrederick, Maryland, and in the spring of 1862, Gordon served underMaj. Gen.Nathaniel P. Banks, unsuccessfully opposing Maj. Gen.Stonewall Jackson in theShenandoah Valley. Gordon was appointed abrigadier general of volunteers on June 12, 1862, to rank from June 9, 1862.^[1]

Gordon commanded a brigade inXII Corps,Army of the Potomac, at theBattle of Antietam, becoming acting division commander when Brig. Gen.Alpheus S. Williams became acting corps commander. He also took command of 1st Division,XI Corps, following theBattle of Gettysburg and was transferred with it to theDepartment of the South. There he commanded troops onFolly Island,South Carolina. Starting in November 1864, Gordon served in the Department of Virginia.^[2] He commanded the Eastern District of that department from February 1865 until he left the army.^[2]

Gordon served in the army until August 24, 1865. On January 13, 1866,PresidentAndrew Johnson nominated Gordon for the award of the honorary grade ofbrevetmajor general,United States Volunteers, to rank from April 9, 1865,^[1][2] and theU.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866.^[1]

After the war, Gordon practiced law in Boston. He was one of the founders of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts. He published the following books:

• History of the Second Massachusetts Regiment (1876)
• History of the Campaign of the Army of Virginia under Gen. John Pope from Cedar Mountain to Alexandria (1880)
• A War Diary of the Events of the War of the Great Rebellion, 1863-65 (1882)
• Brook Farm to Cedar Mountain (1883)

Gordon died inFramingham, Massachusetts, and is buried in Framingham Centre.

• List of American Civil War generals (Union)
• List of Massachusetts generals in the American Civil War
• Massachusetts in the American Civil War

• Eicher, John H., andEicher, David J.,Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001,ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
• Warner, Ezra J.,Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964,ISBN 0-8071-0822-7.

• Media related toGeorge Henry Gordon at Wikimedia Commons

• 1823 births
• 1886 deaths
• American military personnel of the Mexican–American War
• American male writers
• Harvard Law School alumni
• People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War
• Lawyers from Boston
• People from Framingham, Massachusetts
• Union army generals
• United States Military Academy alumni
• 19th-century American lawyers

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