# John Gill Shorter

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American politician (1818–1872)

John Gill Shorter 17th Governor of Alabama In office December 2, 1861 – December 1, 1863 Preceded by Andrew B. Moore Succeeded by Thomas H. Watts Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States In office February 4, 1861 – December 2, 1861 Preceded by New constituency Succeeded by Constituency abolished Personal details Born April 23, 1818 Monticello, Georgia, U.S. Died May 29, 1872 (aged 54) Eufaula, Alabama, U.S. Resting place Shorter Cemetery, Eufaula, Alabama Party Democratic

**John Gill Shorter** (April 23, 1818 – May 29, 1872) was an American politician, lawyer, and slaveowner who served as the 17th [governor of Alabama](/source/Governor_of_Alabama) from 1861 to 1863 during the [American Civil War](/source/American_Civil_War). Before assuming the governorship, Shorter was a Deputy from [Alabama](/source/Alabama) to the [Provisional Congress of the Confederate States](/source/Provisional_Congress_of_the_Confederate_States) from February 1861 to December 1861.

## Early life

John Gill Shorter was born on April 23, 1818, in [Monticello, Georgia](/source/Monticello%2C_Georgia).[1] He attended the [University of Georgia](/source/University_of_Georgia), graduating in 1837, then moved to [Eufaula, Alabama](/source/Eufaula%2C_Alabama) where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1838.[2][3]

In 1843 he married Mary Jane Battle, and established himself in [Barbour county](/source/Barbour_County%2C_Alabama) as a prominent South Alabama attorney, with sizeable holdings of land and slaves.[3]

## Political career

As a [Democrat](/source/Democratic_party_(United_States)), Shorter won a seat in the [Alabama State Senate](/source/Alabama_State_Senate) in 1845, then served in the lower house of the [state legislature](/source/Alabama_legislature) in 1851 before stepping down to become a [circuit judge](/source/United_States_circuit_court).[3] An early supporter of secession, Shorter attended the 1850 [Nashville Convention](/source/Nashville_Convention) where delegates from nine Southern states met to consider leaving the United States due to the slavery debate. After Alabama seceded from the Union in 1861, Governor [Andrew B. Moore](/source/Andrew_B._Moore) sent Shorter as a commissioner to Georgia, where he urged the neighboring state to follow Alabama and secede.[3][4]

Shorter was then chosen as one of Alabama's delegates to the [Provisional Congress of the Confederate States](/source/Provisional_Congress_of_the_Confederate_States), where he established a reputation as a strong supporter of the [Davis administration](/source/Jefferson_Davis)'s policies.[5][3] He left his Congressional seat to run for governor in the [1861 election](/source/1861_Alabama_gubernatorial_election), defeating Whig candidate [Thomas H. Watts](/source/Thomas_H._Watts) while public enthusiasm for the war was still high.[3]

Taking office on December 2, 1861, Shorter was soon faced with major reverses as Union troops pushed Confederate forces out of Tennessee and into North Alabama. Facing a naval blockade of Mobile bay and with a shortage of local manufacturing facilities, Alabama struggled to adequately arm its troops. Shorter's administration funded investments in local arms factories but production was slow and the state government was forced to seek out civilian-owned obsolete muskets to arm the Alabama troops.[3] Law and order began to deteriorate, and anti-Confederate rebellions led by deserters broke out in North and Southeast Alabama.[6] By August 1863 there were an estimated 8,000 [deserters](/source/Desertion) and rebels in the Alabama hill country.[3]

Shorter called on the state legislature to form a militia for local defense, as Alabama's regular army regiments were away in other states and conscription had thinned the reserves of manpower available to the state.[3] The bill created County Reserves of teenage boys and State Reserves of older men to try to resolve the problem, but desertion from the ranks was still a major issue. Many soldiers returned home to Alabama without permission, seeking to support their families who were facing near-[famine](/source/Famine) conditions by the mid-point of the war.[3][7]

Governor Shorter also made efforts to [impress](/source/Impressment) slaves to build fortifications and maintain critical railroads.[8] Thousands were sent to work at Mobile and other points across the state, and at least 500 enslaved people died laboring under harsh conditions.[3] Many wealthy plantation owners resented the use of their slaves to serve the state or refused to supply them,[9] and Shorter later reflected that impressment of slaves was the main reason for his defeat when he ran for reelection.[3]

Shorter faced his same opponent from the last election, T.H. Watts, in the [1863 Alabama gubernatorial election](/source/1863_Alabama_gubernatorial_election), but this time the discontented Alabama populace vote for Watts by a 3-1 margin.[10] Leaving office in December, 1863, Shorter did not return to public life,[5] and died on May 29, 1872, in [Eufaula, Alabama](/source/Eufaula%2C_Alabama).[1][3]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EoAL_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EoAL_1-1) McKiven, Henry R. Jr. (November 22, 2010) "[John Gill Shorter (1861-63)](http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1468)". *Encyclopedia of Alabama* - accessed February 18, 2011

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Gazzara-McKenzie, Caroline (April 22, 2025). ["ALABAMA GOVERNORS: John Shorter"](https://www.alabamaheritage.com/blog/2025/04/22/alabama-governors-john-shorter/). *Alabama Heritage*. Retrieved April 5, 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-11) [***m***](#cite_ref-Yearns_3-12) Yearns, W. Buck, ed. (1985). *The Confederate Governors*. University of Georgia Press. p. 21-30.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** United States War Department (1895). [*The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. 1 Serial 127*](https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/127/0055). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 55.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Warner_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Warner_5-1) Warner, Ezra J.; Yearns, W. Buck (1975). [*Biographical Register of the Confederate Congress*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biographical_Register_of_the_Confederate/riBfDwAAQBAJ). Louisiana State University Press. p. 219. Retrieved April 10, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Weitz, Mark A. *More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army*. University of Nebraska Press. p. 210,214.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Weitz, Mark A. *More Damning than Slaughter: Desertion in the Confederate Army*. University of Nebraska Press. p. 239.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** United States War Department (1895). [*The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 26, Serial 42*](https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/042/0136). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 136.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** United States War Department (1895). [*The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Serial 128*](https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/128/0106). Washington DC: Government Printing Office. p. 106.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Flynt, Wayne (February 5, 2016). *Poor But Proud*. 1222: University of Alabama Press.{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: location ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_location))

## Further reading

- [*History of the University of Georgia*, Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949 p.392](http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/ebind2html.pl/reed_c04?seq=106)

## External links

- Media related to [John Gill Shorter](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:John_Gill_Shorter) at Wikimedia Commons

- [John Gill Shorter](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8025542) at [Find a Grave](/source/Find_a_Grave)

- [John Gill Shorter](http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/shorten-shuja.html#978.83.35) at *[The Political Graveyard](/source/The_Political_Graveyard)*

Offices and distinctions Party political offices Preceded by Andrew B. Moore Democratic nominee for Governor of Alabama 1861, 1863 Succeeded by Michael J. Bulger Political offices Preceded by New constituency Deputy from Alabama to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States 1861 Succeeded by Constituency abolished Preceded by Andrew B. Moore Governor of Alabama 1861–1863 Succeeded by Thomas H. Watts

Articles related to John Gill Shorter v t e Signatories of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States President of the Congress Howell Cobb South Carolina Robert Barnwell Rhett R. W. Barnwell James Chesnut, Jr. C. G. Memminger Wm. Porcher Miles Laurence M. Keitt William W. Boyce Tho. J. Withers Georgia R. Toombs Francis S. Bartow Martin J. Crawford E. A. Nisbet Benjamin H. Hill Augustus R. Wright Thos. R. R. Cobb A. H. Kenan Alexander H. Stephens Florida Jackson Morton Jas. B. Owens J. Patton Anderson Alabama Richard W. Walker Robt. H. Smith Colin J. McRae Jno. Gill Shorter William Parish Chilton Stephen F. Hale David P. Lewis Tho. Fearn J. L. M. Curry Mississippi W. P. Harris Alexander M. Clayton W. S. Wilson James T. Harrison Walker Brooke William S. Barry J. A. P. Campbell Louisiana John Perkins, Jr. Alex. de Clouet C. M. Conrad Duncan F. Kenner Edward Sparrow Henry Marshall Texas Thomas N. Waul Williamson S. Oldham John Gregg John H. Reagan W. B. Ochiltree John Hemphill Louis T. Wigfall Category Commons v t e Signatories of the Confederate States Constitution President of the Congress Howell Cobb South Carolina Robert Barnwell Rhett C. G. Memminger Wm. Porcher Miles James Chesnut Jr. R. W. Barnwell William W. Boyce Laurence Keitt T. J. Withers Georgia R. Toombs Francis S. Bartow Martin J. Crawford Alexander H. Stephens Benjamin H. Hill Thos. R. R. Cobb E. A. Nisbet Augustus R. Wright A. H. Kenan Florida Jackson Morton J. Patton Anderson Jas. B. Owens Alabama Richard W. Walker Robt. H. Smith Colin J. McRae William P. Chilton Stephen F. Hale David P. Lewis Tho. Fearn Jno. Gill Shorter J. L. M. Curry Mississippi Alexander M. Clayton James T. Harrison William S. Barry W. S. Wilson Walker Brooke W. P. Harris J. A. P. Campbell Louisiana John Perkins Jr. Alex. de Clouet C. M. Conrad Duncan F. Kenner Henry Marshall Edward Sparrow Texas John Hemphill Thomas N. Waul John H. Reagan Williamson S. Oldham Louis T. Wigfall John Gregg William Beck Ochiltree Category Commons v t e Governors and lieutenant governors of Alabama Governors W. Bibb T. Bibb Pickens Murphy G. Moore S. Moore Gayle Clay McVay Bagby Fitzpatrick Martin Chapman Collier Winston A. Moore Shorter Watts Parsons Patton Swayne Smith Lindsay Lewis Houston Cobb E. A. O'Neal Seay T. Jones Oates Johnston Samford Jelks Comer E. O'Neal Henderson Kilby Brandon Graves Miller Graves Dixon Sparks Folsom Sr. Persons Folsom Sr. Patterson G. Wallace L. Wallace Brewer G. Wallace James G. Wallace Hunt Folsom Jr. James Siegelman Riley Bentley Ivey Lieutenant governors Applegate Moren McKinstry Ligon Cunningham Gray Seed Kilby Miller McDowell Davis Merrill Knight Carmichael Ellis Inzer Allen Hardwick Boutwell Allen Brewer Beasley McMillan B. Baxley Folsom Jr. Siegelman Windom L. Baxley Folsom Jr. Ivey Ainsworth

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