Our History Project Presents - Larry GordonAuthor of "
The Last Confederate General: John C. Vaughn and His East Tennessee Cavalry".
A link to "Our History Project Review" of the book will be posted here when complete.
Larry Gordon is a native of Fort Worth, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor of science degree in meteorology and entered the Regular Army of the United States as a second lieutenant. He served in the Army Signal Corps in the fields of tactical and strategic communications, and foreign intelligence, with tours of duty in Italy, Korea, Panama, Hawaii, and all over the mainland United States. During his long Army career, he was awarded the Air Medal, Bronze Star, Defense Superior Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit before retiring from active duty as a colonel. For the past twenty years, he has worked in the Washington, DC area as a military information technology analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses, a not-for-profit center that does studies for the Department of Defense.
Larry earned a master of arts degree in Soviet and Slavic area studies from the University of Kansas. He is also a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and the Army War College. He has studied several languages, including Polish, Czech, Russian, Italian, and Spanish.
His hobbies include genealogy and scuba diving. He began diving as a teenager and is now a Master Scuba Diver who is also rated as a Rescue Diver.
Larry is the author of
The Last Confederate General, John C. Vaughn and His East Tennessee Cavalry. He has been a student of history all his life - the American Civil War especially - and has worked as a volunteer interpretive guide at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Northern Virginia for the past 14 years. He and his wife Julia live in Fairfax Station, Virginia.
Press Release:
THE LAST CONFEDERATE GENERALPresentation by
Larry GordonJohn Crawford Vaughn, an officer bound by duty but forgotten by history, was one of the most interesting characters to emerge from the War Between the States. He was one of only three Confederate general officers from East Tennessee and the only one still in command when hostilities ended. Vaughn was not a professional military man. Leading a cavalry brigade, he often determined which side had the superior force by boldly attacking, then retreating only if it turned out that the enemy was much stronger. But he was always willing to fight-a quality that many other leaders on both sides seriously lacked. Every time he was knocked down, he got back up-and he came up swinging. In 1864, General Vaughn's wife, father, and three young daughters were arrested, imprisoned, and held hostage against him-the only such occurrence against a general officer on either side during the war. While it affected his performance, it also revealed his deep courage and dedication to the Southern cause.
When Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865, Vaughn was not ready to quit. He headed into North Carolina, where he joined President Jefferson Davis, his friend and mentor, and became the senior brigadier in his escort. He finally surrendered in Augusta, Georgia, on May 10, the same day that Davis was captured, becoming the last general to do so in the eastern theater. Financially ruined and accused of treason, he settled in Thomasville, Georgia, and tried selling dry goods, with little success. But just five years after the war, he was one of the few high-ranking Confederates who had the nerve to return to Tennessee. He was elected to the state senate and served as president for two years. However, he became involved in a pension scheme that resulted in a sensational Federal trial ending in his conviction. He then returned to Thomasville, where he lived out the few remaining months of his life.
Nevertheless, many positive lessons can be drawn from this man's life. He fought long and hard for his beliefs. Tough, confident, and convinced of the rightness of his cause, he exemplified many of the qualities of the Southern Nation as a whole. He was a very remarkable man with some ordinary human failings who was caught up in a most extraordinary time. Vaughn was totally committed to protecting his family, his home, his comrades, and his way of life. He exerted a tremendous will to win, even in the face of certain defeat. He had to wrestle with many exceptional and complex situations. Thrust into a military and social maelstrom, he did the best he could. While his best was far from perfect, no other East Tennessee Confederate came close to matching it. Part rogue and part hero, he was all Rebel. His fighting spirit is still inspirational today, particularly in the trying times we are now in. The enduring legacy of John Crawford Vaughn is not so much what he fought for but the unrelenting determination and unparalleled bravery with which he fought for it. He was a man who never quit.
Our History Project Review review of the book will be posted here when complete.
