Background
Gordon was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina to Nathaniel and Sarah Gwyn Gordon.
Gordon was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina to Nathaniel and Sarah Gwyn Gordon.
He was killed in action at the Battle of Meadow Bridge. James B. Gordon was a distant cousin of Confederate General John Brown Gordon. He served several terms as a Wilkes County commissioner and spent one term in the North Carolina state legislature.
With the outbreak of the in 1861, Gordon enlisted as a lieutenant in the "Wilkes County Guards".
When his unit was merged with regular Confederate Army units, he was promoted to captain, and then major, of the 1st North Carolina Cavalry regiment. He served under the command of famed Confederate cavalry general J.E.B. Stuart for most of the war.
In early 1862, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and a year later was made a full colonel of cavalry. During the Army of Northern Virginia"s retreat after the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Colonel Gordon defeated Union forces at Hagerstown, Maryland, thereby helping the Confederates escape into Virginia.
In September 1863, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned command of the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade.
He defeated Union troops in a battle near Culpeper Court House in October 1863, but was seriously wounded shortly afterwards. In May 1864, Gordon joined with other Confederate cavalry units under J.E.B. Stuart to halt the advance of Union Major General Philip Sheridan towards Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital.
On May 12, 1864, Gordon"s cavalry held Sheridan"s troops at Meadow Bridge, just north of Richmond, long enough for Confederate reinforcements to arrive and save the city.
However, Gordon was mortally wounded in this battle and died within a week. He was buried with full military honors in the cemetery of Saint Paul"s Episcopalian church in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.
On May 11 Stuart was killed in the Battle of Yellow Tavern, and Gordon assumed the role of defending Richmond.
After studying at Emory and Henry College in Emory, Virginia, he returned to Wilkes County and became a successful mercantile businessman and a prominent member of the community.