GORDON, JOHN BROWN American soldier and statesman, born Feb. 6, 183 2, in Upson county, Georgia. He was graduated from the University of Georgia (1852) and later practised law in Atlanta. At the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Confederate army as captain of volunteers (1861) and passed successfully through the grades to lieutenant general. In the course of the war he was wounded in battle eight times. He commanded an infantry division at Gettysburg and led the attack on July 1, 1863. He held the last lines at Petersburg, guarding the Confederate retreat from that city. At Appomattox he com manded one wing of Lee's army with the instructions to cut through Grant's line. He made the last charge, and was taking the Federal breastworks, when news of his chief's surrender ended his action. Following the war he settled in Atlanta, Ga., and was a member of the Democratic national conventions of 1868 and 1872. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1873 and re-elected in 1879 and 189o. He was governor of Georgia (1886-9o), and elected commander-in-chief of the United Confederate Veterans (1900). He died in Miami, Fla., Jan. 9, 1904. He wrote The Old South (1887) and Reminiscences of the Civil War (1903) .