George Washington Gordon was born around 1808 in North Carolina. He married Elizabeth Bradshaw on January 14, 1834, and they had at least nine children: John, born around 1835; Mary, born around 1837; Martha, born around 1838; William, born around 1839; Margaret, born on October 27, 1842; George, born around 1844; Charles, born around 1846; Hugh, born around 1848; and Edward, born around 1850. They lived in Maury County, Tennessee, and he worked as a farmer. By 1860, he owned $20,000 of real estate and $36,800 of personal property.

 

A local writer described him as an “able and earnest advocate of the principles of the Whig party.” During the secession crisis, he initially remained loyal to the Union. He reportedly “loved it…with a passionate devotion.” Ultimately, however, he sided with the Confederacy. By May 1862, he viewed the Confederacy as his “bleeding & beloved Country,” and he denounced the Union as an “abolition-emancipation Government.”

 

In November 1861, he received a commission as captain of Company E of the 48^th Tennessee Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Fort Donelson. Union forces captured him at Fort Donelson and imprisoned him at Johnson’s Island. They released him in September 1862, and he died in Vicksburg, Mississippi, later that month.  

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