One of the first assurances Col. George H. Gordon secured from Massachusetts Governor, John A. Andrew, when proposing to recruit a 3-year regiment, was the promise that Gordon alone would have sole authority in the appointment of its officers. Andrew agreed, but quickly came to regret giving Gordon such autonomy. Relations between the two men soured before the 2nd Massachusetts ever left for the field.

One night at Camp Andrew Gordon happened to be passing the tent of Capt. Joel Parker Whitney and overheard the officer "pledging" with an old friend--and old friend who happened to be an enlisted man in his company. Upon demanding an explanation, Gordon was informed that it was Whitney's way of removing "any unpleasant impression rankling in the corporal's breast because of his insisting upon the performance of some particular duty." Needless to say, this explanation did not satisfy the professional soldier, who came down on the offender like a ton of bricks and left the young officer with no choice but to resign from the regiment. This was fine with Gordon who was determined right from the start to run his regiment like that of the Regular Army. The "militia mentality" had to be stamped out, and the unfortunate Whitney provided Gordon with the means of making his point.

Upon reflection, Capt. Whitney reconsidered his resignation and appealled over Gordon's head to Governor Andrew for intervention. Andrew summoned Gordon to the State House to discuss the matter. The interview did not go well. To begin with, Andrew's mind was already made up: Whitney's indiscretion, it seemed to him, had been a minor one at best and a misunderstanding at worst. True, the young officer had demonstrated poor judgement, but certainly he had learned his lesson. And besides, surely the dispute could be resolved between two gentlemen.

Gordon was a soldier, not a politician, and the gentle art of persuasion was not among his characteristics. It seemed to him as if the Governor, too, needed to be broken of the "militia mentality." As far as Gordon was concerned, the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry was under the command of the United States Government, not the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the head of that Commonwealth should not be meddling in military matters. Nor did he appreciate Andrew's taking Whitney's side in the dispute AND making the whole thing a matter of public record by airing his opinions in "official correspondence." In short, Gordon dug in his heels and refused to take Whitney back. He also reminded the Governor of the latter's promise that all officer appointments would be his--Gordon's--realm, and his alone.

Andrew was forced to concede defeat, but did so with bad grace and never forgave Gordon.

In early August, rumors reached the regiment of Col. Gordon's impending promotion to Brigadier General. Instead, the honor went to Darius Couch of the 7th MA. Gordon smelled a conspiracy, but since he had come "not to serve myself but my country," he swallowed his pride, at least publicly. Gordon had underestimated the extent of both the Governor's spite and his influence. It was payback time and Andrew exacted his revenge in the manner which hurt Gordon the most: he effectivley blocked his promotion for more than a year.

At times Gordon was philosophical about the whole thing. "Well, if you climb high you offer more of a mark than if you keep in a hole in the trunk of a tree." He would claim not to "care a farthing" for the promotion and expressed his desire to trade all of the trappings of military glory for "one hour of quiet at home, one day of sweet peaceful New England country life."

One other occasions, his anger and frustration would burst forth in his letters home. He found it "galling in the extreme" to be subordinate to "lesser men" and railed against "those dolts of politicians" who did nothing but "sit upon cushioned seats in the State House" growing fat upon "other people's work." He doubted that the full extent of Andrew's hyprocisy would ever be know. "I suppose they will elect him again. The poor stupid countrymen are moved by his tears and kissing blunderbusses, but there is venom in his mind and guile in his heart."

The dispute became public back home, with everyone taking sides. Gordon's cousin, Henry Bruce Scott, warned him that the general feeling around Boston was that Gordon was more at fault in the matter. Gordon's officers saw things differently. Capt. Samuel Quincy, a politician himself, leapt to Gordon's defense. "However disagreeable or unpopular our Colonel may make himself, he's a soldier, there's no rubbing that out, & the regiment ought to be thankful to Gov. Andrew for preventing his promtion. Every officer under Gordon will always have to do every inch of his duty or he'll know the reason why."

"What a noble thing for that Christian patriot to do!," remarked Capt. Richard Cary, refering to the Governor's actions. He nevertheless condeded that Gordon, to put it politely, "speaks too plainly" to ever succeed in any delicate political game, and that "if you want to have a man do you a favor you must not make the first advance by kicking him."

When a new division of brigades gave Gordon the temporary command of a brigade, he had no doubts that he would triumph over the Governor in the end. "I really seem to have been going up not down the ladder, but Jerusalem! is not the ladder a long one; many a fat old fellow is in the way, some of them stuck fast & many loathing me to death, coming down & getting in my way while they, poor fools, think they are climbing." As for Governor Andrew, Gordon likened him to a fly he found half-mashed on his camp table, "held fast to the bad things that had come out of him." Towards that fly, he felt "no anger nor envy, tho' other foolish flies buzzed around with him before his misfortune."

Round II of Gordon vs. Andrew occured during the winter of 1861-62 over the appointment of officers to fill vacancies. When Gordon submitted the names of those he wanted (including his cousin, Henry Scott), the Governor's repsonse was to reject them in favor of men of his own choosing. This was a clear violation of the agreement procured by Gordon before the regiment was organized. Scott predicted the action would "raise a great row with George," and feared that the inevitable explosion would "effectually dispose of all my chances of a commission."

Armed with the power granted him by the War Department to subject any candidate appointed by the State to a rigorous military examination, Gordon threatened to do just that. The Governor cooly replied that he had too much confidence in Gordon's "honor and integrity" to subject any of his designated candidates to such an examination. Back and forth dispatched went, leaving Capt. Quincy thoroughly disgusted. "I wish we could cut loose from Boston State House even if it is the hub of creation."

The situation ended in a compromise, but Gordon's chances of promotion grew dimmer. Aa other men were made generals, Gordon remained a colonel in command of a brigade. "This redundancy of brigadiers disgusts me," wrote Maj. Wilder Dwight. "What room hav they left for distinction to those who win glory in the fight. These antecedent laurels cheapen the very warmest incentive to a soldier's sacrifices."

Chaplain Quint condemned the political maneuvering that bolstered "incompetant men" into high places "while local spite has operated against a man who has been repeatedly the resource of our Major-General in dangerous and delicate operation." Even Capt. Edward Abbott, who had no love for Gordon, declared that it was high time "this foolery", as he put it, was put an end to. "Gordon has a right to the next place--and if not otherwise a political question should be made of it."

Henry Scott, agreed, but saw cousin George a mere colonel for some time to come. "If only he were an incompetant, unmilitary wire-pulling politician there would be some reason to hope, but as he's nothing but a soldier, his chances are small."

Not until after the battle of Winchester in May of 1862, did Gordon earn his promotion to Brigadier General. Informed by the Secretary of War that his promotion could no longer be deferred, Gov. Andrew shrugged his shoulders and sent Gordon his congratulations. A triumphant Gordon wrote back, "Allow me to say that I receive in the most cordial spirit these friendly congratulations, that I thank you for these utterances and that I regard their expression as an earnest official recognition of my devotion to a noble cause, and the glory of our beloved Commonwealth."

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