Everything about Earl Van Dorn totally explained
Earl Van Dorn (
September 17,
1820 –
May 7,
1863) was a career
U.S. Army officer and a
Confederate major general during the
American Civil War.
Early life
Born near
Port Gibson,
Mississippi, Van Dorn graduated from the
U.S. Military Academy at
West Point in 1842 being ranked 52 out of 56. He fought in the
Mexican-American War and against the
Seminoles and
Comanches.
Civil War
His West Point background and previous war experience led to rapid advancement in the
Confederate States Army, rising from
colonel in March 1861 to
major general in September. In this capacity, he commanded the Confederate forces at the
Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern) in
Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The Confederates' defeat at this battle, and Van Dorn's decision to move his army east of the Mississippi River enabled the Union to control the state of
Missouri and threaten the heart of Arkansas. His incompetence at the
Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862 led to another
Union Army victory.
Van Dorn was more effective as a cavalry commander. His action destroying Union supplies at
Holly Springs,
Mississippi, in December 1862, seriously disrupted
Ulysses S. Grant's first
Vicksburg Campaign. He was also successful at
Thompson's Station, Tennessee, in March 1863.
Death
It was Van Dorn's reputation as a womanizer, not a Union bullet, that led to his death. On
May 7,
1863, he was shot at his headquarters in
Spring Hill, Tennessee, by Dr. George Peters, who claimed that Van Dorn had carried on an affair with his wife. Peters was later arrested by Confederate authorities, but was never tried for the killing. Van Dorn is buried at
Port Gibson, Mississippi.
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