Anthony/Brady.  When the Civil War erupted in 1861, Gordon organized and became colonel of the 2nd Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. The regiment served guarding the upper Potomac River and Frederick, Maryland, and in the spring of 1862, Gordon served under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, unsuccessfully opposing Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley. Gordon was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers on June 12, 1862, to rank from June 9, 1862.[1]Gordon commanded a brigade in XII Corps, Army of the Potomac, at the Battle of Antietam, becoming acting division commander when Brig. Gen. Alpheus S. Williams became acting corps commander. He also took command of 1st Division, XI Corps, following the Battle of Gettysburg and was transferred with it to the Department of the South. There he commanded troops on Folly Island, South Carolina. Starting in November 1864, Gordon served in the Department of Virginia.[2] He commanded the Eastern District of that department from February 1865 until he left the army.[2]Gordon served in the army until August 24, 1865. On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Gordon for the award of the honorary grade of brevet major general, United States Volunteers, to rank from April 9, 1865,[1][2] and the U.S. Senate confirmed the award on March 12, 1866.[1]