John B. Gordon was born around 1830 in Abbeville County, South Carolina, to William and Mary Gordon. His father was a farmer and shoemaker who owned $3,300 of real estate and $7,400 of personal property by 1860. Gordon grew up in Saluda, South Carolina, and by 1850, he was working as a farmer. He remained in his father’s household until at least 1860.
He enlisted in the Confederate army on July 20, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in the 1st South Carolina Rifles. The regiment took part in the Seven Days’ Battles. He died of “diarrhoea chronica” in Lovingston, Virginia, on August 27, 1862.