Lesley J. Gordon is an American military historian specializing in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. She holds the Charles G. Summersell Chair of Southern History at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

Education and career

Gordon attended East Granby High School in

East Granby, Connecticut East Granby is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,214 at the 2020 census. History Original inhabitants of the current East Granby area were Native American peoples, including the Algonquin/Poquonock, th ...

. She studied history at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

and obtained her PhD from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. She succeeded

George C. Rable George C. Rable is an American historian and author. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama. He received the Lincoln Prize in 2003 for his 2002 book '' Fredericksburg! Fredericksburg!'' Education He received a bachelor of arts degr ...

as the Charles G. Summersell Professor of Southern History at Alabama in 2016, having previously held positions at Murray State University and the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classifie ...

Work on the American Civil War

Gordon's research focuses on the

. Her first book, published in 1998, was a biography of the

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general

George E. Pickett George Edward Pickett (January 16,Military records cited by Eicher, p. 428, and Warner, p. 239, list January 28. The memorial that marks his gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery lists his birthday as January 25. Thclaims to have accessed the baptism ...

, famed for his failed charge at the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

. Gordon argued that Pickett's posthumous reputation as

tragic hero A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his ''Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ba ...

of the

Lost Cause The Lost Cause of the Confederacy (or simply Lost Cause) is an American pseudohistorical negationist mythology that claims the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not centered on slavery. Firs ...

was largely the creation of his wife, LaSalle Pickett, who made a living giving talks about her deceased husband on the

lecture circuit The "lecture circuit" is a euphemistic reference to a planned schedule of regular lectures and keynote speeches given by celebrities, often ex-politicians, for which they receive an appearance fee. In Western countries, the lecture circuit has bec ...

for more than fifty years after his death, and that his actual achievements were more modest. The book was described as "well-written and exhaustively researched", and praised for bringing attention to the actions of women in the period.Reviews of ''General George E. Pickett in Life and Legend'': Kirkus Reviews (1998)

Elizabeth D. Leonard (1999), ''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 123 (4): 385–387, ; J. Tracy Power (1999), ''Civil War History'' 45 (3): 272–273, ; Michael Fellman (1999), ''The Georgia Historical Quarterly'' 83 (1): 166–168, ; Paul Christopher Anderson (2000), ''The Florida Historical Quarterly'' 78 (3): 377–379, . Her other books include ''This Terrible War'' (2003), a textbook on the Civil War co-authored with Daniel E. Sutherland and

Michael Fellman Michael Fellman (1943, Madison, Wisconsin – June 11, 2012, Vancouver, British Columbia) was a professor emeritus of history at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fellman was born in Madison, Wisconsin. He was educ ...

,Review of ''This Terrible War: The Civil War and Its Aftermath'': Thomas A. DeBlack (2004), ''The Arkansas Historical Quarterly'' 63 (1): 77–79, . currently in its third edition, and ''A Broken Regiment'' (2014), a regimental history of the

16th Connecticut Infantry Regiment The 16th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service The 16th Connecticut Infantry Regiment was organized at Hartford, Connecticut, on August 24, 1862. The regiment ...

.Reviews of ''A Broken Regiment: The 16th Connecticut’s Civil War'': Thomas J. Balcerski (2015), ''Civil War History'' 61 (3): 303–305, ; Gerald. J. Prokopowicz (2015), ''The Journal of the Civil War Era'' 5 (4): 601–603, , . She has also edited and contributed to a number of edited volumes, and was formerly the editor of the journal ''Civil War History''. In 2017, Gordon appeared on the American version of the

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

documentary series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' Who Do You Think You Are?''; she revealed to actor

Noah Wyle Noah Strausser Speer Wyle (; born June 4, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as John Carter in the television series '' ER'' (1994–2009), which earned him nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emm ...

that one of his ancestors fought in the Confederate Army.

Selected publications

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Lesley J. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American military historians American women historians College of William & Mary alumni Historians of the American Civil War University of Alabama faculty University of Georgia alumni