[3] She studied history at the College of William & Mary and obtained her PhD from the University of Georgia.
Her first book, published in 1998, was a biography of the Confederate general George E. Pickett, famed for his failed charge at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Gordon argued that Pickett's posthumous reputation as tragic hero of the Lost Cause was largely the creation of his wife, LaSalle Pickett, who made a living giving talks about her deceased husband on the lecture circuit 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.
; she revealed to actor Noah Wyle that one of his ancestors fought in the Confederate Army.