Earl Van Dorn (17 September 1820 – 7 May 1863) was a Major-General of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Van Dorn commanded the Army of Mississippi in the Western Theater of the war, and he was murdered by a jealous husband in May 1863.
Biography[]
Earl Van Dorn was born in Claiborne County, Mississippi on 17 September 1820, the son of a lawyer and a niece of Andrew Jackson. Van Dorn graduated from West Point in 1842, 52nd in a class of 56 cadets. Van Dorn served in the US Army during the Mexican-American War, and he was promoted to Major after fighting in the battles around Mexico City. Van Dorn defeated the Comanche on the Central Plains in Texas, successfully defending a Native American settlement in the Battle of Wichita Village in 1858.
Departing New Orleans on April 14 and arriving in Galveston, Texas, Van Dorn led his forces to a successful capture of three U.S. ships in the harbor. Aiming to prevent casualties on either side and to ultimately prevent the war from starting, he took control of the ships but allowed Union troops to retain their firearms, emphasizing their shared identity as Americans. This led to the first surrender of the war on April 17. In response, President Abraham Lincoln labeled Van Dorn a pirate under U.S. law "for seizure of vessels or goods by persons acting under the authority of the Confederate States.[1]" Van Dorn and his men then proceeded to Indianola, where they compelled the last remaining regular U.S. Army soldiers in Texas to surrender on April 23.
On 23 January 1861, Van Dorn became a Brigadier-General of the Mississippi Militia, and he became a Colonel of the Confederate States Army on 16 March. On 5 June 1862, he was promoted to Brigadier-General in the regular army, and he was given command of the Army of Mississippi to end the arguments between Sterling Price and Benjamin McCulloch. Van Dorn lost a large portion of his army at Pea Ridge in March 1862, largely due to inheriting starving, barefoot, and sickly troops, and he was defeated at Corinth in October 1862 due to abandoment by General Bragg who saw fit to ignore Van Dorn's plans and, instead, took nearly half of the troops elsewhere.
Eyewitness Captain H.E. Starke echoed Jefferson Davis by stating that this defeat was not the fault of General Van Dorn and in a paper that Starke wrote about the battle of Corinth, he referred to Van Dorn as "the bravest of the brave, the knightly Earl Van Dorn." He went on to say, "If the true history of the attack on Corinth should be written, it would furnish a satisfactory excuse for the failure of Van Dorn in that memorable and desperately fought battle; our defeat must be attributed to the facts, that General Bragg saw fit to ignore the plans of Van Dorn, and to concentrate the army, for the purpose of engaging the enemy at Iuka. The result of that battle is well known; our force was reduced from 30,000 effective men to less than 17,000. But Van Dorn, with this small force, successfully stormed the works of this Gibraltar of Mississippi, defended by 35,000 men, composed of the flower of the entire Federal army, and commanded by their favorite general Grant. I say successfully, because in the face of the strongest and most formidable works, protected by the most powerful field-guns then in use, and supported by 35,000 bayonets, Van Dorn, with less than 17,000 men succeeded in capturing the works and driving its defenders back into the town, with great slaughter, where they were forced to take refuge in the houses. But this success was gained by the loss of nearly one-half of our number in killed and wounded, which weakened our army to such an extent that the largely reinforced enemy were enabled to repulse, and after a stubborn hand-to-hand fight drive us out of the fortifications. This battle ended the West Tennessee campaign, but did not end the brilliant exploits of Van Dorn."[2]
On 20 December 1862, Van Dorn led a sophisticated raid on Holly Springs, Mississippi and defeated famed Union general Ulysses S. Grant. Van Dorn foiled Grant's plans for capture of Vicksburg. Following that victory, Van Dorn was placed in command of all Confederate cavalry in Tennessee in January 1863. Later, in May 1863, Van Dorn defeated Col. John Coburn while encamped at Spring Hill, Tennessee in Maury County, Tennessee.
Van Dorn achieved victory at the Battle of Thompson's Station on March 5, 1863. A Union brigade, led by Col. John Coburn, departed from Franklin to conduct reconnaissance southward. Approximately four miles from Spring Hill, Coburn encountered and attacked a Confederate force of two regiments but was driven back. General Van Dorn then ordered Brig. Gen. William Hicks Jackson's dismounted troops to launch a frontal assault, while Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry maneuvered around Coburn's left flank and into the Union rear. After three failed attempts, Jackson successfully breached the Union position as Forrest captured Coburn's wagon train fleeing Van Dorn's attack. This cut off the road to Columbia and the Union soldiers' only escape route. With ammunition nearly depleted and surrounded, Coburn surrendered.
"Van Dorn [had] learned his lessons well from his bitter experiences at Pea Ridge and Corinth. With Sheridan not far away, he had wisely not divided his cavalry and had let the enemy come to him. His intelligence information was correct, as was his understanding of the terrain and road network where the action was fought. His plan of battle, based on the concept of drawing Coburn as far from Franklin as possible, was successful, thus making it all the more difficult for that officer to either escape or be reinforced. [The Battle of Thompson's Station] was important in that it prevented a union of Coburn's and Sheridan's forces and [it] marked Van Dorn as a promising and skillful leader of cavalry and mounted infantry. His popularity, already on the rise after the dark days of Corinth, was increased even more by the victory that March day in 1863. A mobile correspondent was soon to report the following, 'As Van Dorn rode along the column after the strife had ceased, cheer upon cheer greeted him from the enthusiastic soldiery, who under his daring direction had achieved the victory, and he is undoubtedly held high at the present moment in the estimation of his forces, and this confidence is well deserved.'"[3]
Van Dorn was murdered at his headquarters by a local doctor, who accused him of having an affair with his wife.
References[]
- ↑ Foote, Vol. I, p. 278. One of the three vessels was the SS Star of the West, known for its role at Ft. Sumter in January 1861.
- ↑ Miller, Emily (1902). A Soldier's Honor. New York City: The Abbey Press Publishers. pp. 286–287.
- ↑ Carter, Arthur (1999). The Tarnished Cavalier: Major General Earl Van Dorn, C.S.A. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press/Knoxville. p. 170. ISBN 978-1572330474.