Who was Lt. Jones?

[gary]

In late '65, there was a Lt. Jones on the staff of Confederate John B. Gordon. What's the entire name and who was he?

[samgrant]

Gary,

It's tough trying to keep up with the Jones of the Civil War!

Are you sure about "late '65"? I think Gordon's staff had pretty much been disbanded after April '65.

Anyway, one Thomas Goode Jones was on April 23, 1863 approved by the Confederate Congress to be aid-de-camp with the rank of first lieutenant, on the February 16, 1863 recommendation by Jefferson Davis: "Thomas G. Jones, of Alabama, to Brig. Gen. J. B. Gordon, January 2, 1863."

I think that by the Wilderness, he was a Captain, and by Appomattox, he was a Major.

"After the battle of Sharpsburg, there was sent to me as an aide on my staff a very young soldier, a mere stripling. He was at that awkward, gawky age through which all boys seem to pass. He bore a letter, however, from the Hon. Thomas Watts, of Alabama, who was the Attorney-General of the Confederate States, and who assured me that this lad had in him all the essentials of a true soldier. It was not long before I found that Mr. Watts had not mistaken the mettle of his young friend, Thomas G. Jones. Late one evening, near sunset, I directed Jones to carry a message from me to General Lee or to my immediate superior. The route was through pine thickets and along dim roads or paths not easily followed. The Union pickets were posted at certain points in these dense woods; but Jones felt sure that he could go through safely. Alone on horseback he started on his hazardous ride. Darkness overtook him before he had emerged from the pine thicket, and he rode into a body of Union pickets, supposing them to be Confederates. There were six men on that post. They seized the bridle of Jones's horse, levelled their rifles at him, and ordered him to dismount. As there was no alternative, one can imagine that Jones was not slow in obeying the order. His captors were evidently new recruits, for they neglected to deprive him of the six-shooter at his belt. Jones even then had in him the oratorical power which afterward won for him distinction at the bar and helped to make him governor of the great State of Alabama. He soon engaged his captors in the liveliest conversation, telling them anecdotes and deeply enlisting their interest in his stories. The night was cold, and before daylight Jones adroitly proposed to the "boys" that they should make a fire, as there was no reason for shivering in the cold with plenty of pine sticks around them. The suggestion was at once accepted, and Jones began to gather sticks. The men, unwilling for him to do all the work, laid down their guns and began to share in this labor. Jones saw his opportunity, and burning with mortification at his failure to carry through my message, he leaped to the pile of guns, drew his revolver, and said to the men: "I can kill every one of you before you can get to me. Fall into line. I will put a bullet through the first man who moves toward me!" He delivered those six prisoners at my headquarters."

- from Reminiscences of the Civil War by John Brown Gordon

At Appomattox, he reputably brought a 'flag of truce' from Lee to Grant.

He was later a two term governor of Alabama.

I'm guessing this is your guy.