ALEXANDER and PETER GORDON – 65(th) INFANTRYA PAIR OF SUBSTITUTES – The Gordon brothers, Alexander and Peter, sonsof Peter and Catharine (Munson) Gordon from Canada, had identicalcareers in the military. They both enlisted in Plattsburgh on March 25,1865, to serve in Company E of the 65th Infantry for 1 year. They bothwere substitutes – Alexander’s principal was Simeon F. Webster fromEllenburg, and Peter was a substitute for John McLean - and they bothreceived hundreds of dollars in bounty money for 4 month’s work.They had no way of knowing that the war was going to end in less than amonth when they were transferred to Virginia as part of two companies ofnew recruits for the 65th. Their regiment was engaged in the finalassault on Petersburg which fell on April 2nd. They were part of ColonelJoseph Hamblin’s Brigade and helped drive Confederate Brigadier GeneralEdward L. Thomas’ Georgia Brigade toward the inner defenses ofPetersburg. A week later Lee surrendered to Grant.It says in the Champlain Town Clerk’s Record of 1865, that the brotherswere not called into active service – in other words they probably hadshovels in their hands and worked on the entrenchments. They musteredout at their camp on July 17, 1865, at Hall’s Hill, VA, between which isnow a part of Arlington, VA, and returned to Champlain.Peter, the elder brother, married Mary Ann Turner, had 9 children andwas a farmer in Fort Covington. He died in St. Regis Falls on December4, 1911, and is buried in Fort Covington. Alexander married and workedas a lumber hauler on the canal boats in Champlain with his father.Interestingly, both Alexander and his father are listed as “Mulatto” onthe 1870 Census. His brother, Peter, although he is listed as havingdark hair and complexion, is never listed that way.
