A portrait of a soldier -- The heritage of John B. Gordon -- Recollections of boyhood -- Athens and the university -- The education of a soldier -- Seeking a career -- Fanny Haralson -- Attorney at law -- Secession and war -- Gordon gets his first smell of battle -- Gordon learns from experience -- Chevalier Bayard of the Army -- Gordon misunderstands his orders -- A story of gallantry -- The wilderness tests Gordon's mettle -- "General Lee to the Rear" -- Gordon goes to the valley -- Gordon essays grand strategy -- Retreat from Petersburg -- Appomattox: surrender and farewell -- Starting anew -- Candidate for governor -- The Ku Klux Klan -- A southern champion in the U.S. Senate -- A national leader -- The Huntington letters -- The Bourbon triumvirate -- Adventurous speculator -- Governor of Georgia -- In the Senate again -- National pacificator -- Gordon comes home.