Gordon, or Whipped Peter, was a slave on a Louisiana plantation who made his escape from bondage in March of 1863 and went on to serve as a soldier in the United States Colored Troops. The photographs showing Gordon's flagellation scars were frequently used by abolitionists throughout the United States and internationally. In July of 1863 these images appeared in an article about Gordon published in Harper's Weekly, the most widely read journal during the Civil War. The pictures of Gordon's scourged back provided Northerners with visual evidence of brutal treatment of slaves and inspired many free blacks to enlist in the Union Army.