George Washington Gordon

George Washington Gordon (born October 5, 1836 in Giles County , Tennessee , † August 9, 1911 in Memphis , Tennessee) was a member of the House of Representatives of the United States and Brigadier General of the Confederate Army during the Civil War . He was one of the founding members of the racist terrorist organization Ku Klux Klan and alleged head of the Klan in Tennessee.

Life

After graduating from the Western Military Institute in 1859, Gordon worked as a surveyor . He began his career in the Confederate Army in the 11th Tennessee Infantry Regiment. After several promotions, Gordon became regimental commander in December 1862. During his service he took part in the battles of Murfreesboro , Chickamauga, and Chattanooga, as well as the Atlanta campaign and John Bell Hood's invasion of Tennessee. Gordon was wounded in the Battle of Franklin and was taken prisoner by the Northern States . On August 15, 1864 he was promoted to brigadier general.

After the war

After his release from captivity in July 1865, Gordon studied law and practiced as a lawyer in Memphis after successful completion. From 1883 he took on various administrative tasks at the city, state and national level. In 1906, Gordon became a member of Congress for the Democratic Party . After two successful re-elections in the tenth district and his appointment as Commander in Chief of the United Confederate Veterans , a veterans organization of the war veterans of the southern states, he died on August 9, 1911 in Memphis. His grave can be found in Elmwood Cemetery .

literature

Ezra J. Warner: Generals in Gray - Lives of the Confederate Commanders . Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge (LA) 1959
James Spencer: Civil War Generals . Greenwood Press Inc., Westport (CO) 1986

Individual evidence

^ Horn, Stanley F. Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan from 1866 to 1871, Patterson Smith Publishing Corporation: Montclair, NJ, 1939.

Web links

George Washington Gordon in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

George Washington Gordon in the database of Find a Grave (English)

personal data
SURNAME	Gordon, George Washington
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American army officer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	October 5, 1836
PLACE OF BIRTH	Giles County , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH	August 9, 1911
Place of death	Memphis , Tennessee

[1] Horn, Stanley F. Invisible Empire: The Story of the Ku Klux Klan from 1866 to 1871, Patterson Smith Publishing Corporation: Montclair, NJ, 1939.