The Tarnished Cavalier: Major General Earl Van Dorn, C.S.A.

by Carter, Arthur B.

• ISBN13: 9781572330474
• ISBN10: 1572330473
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Tennessee Pr

Summary

Dashing, bold, and fearless in command, Major General Earl Van Dorn was a soldier whose star shone brightly during the early days of the Confederacy. A veteran of the Mexican War and Indian campaigns, he is remembered for suffering devastating defeats while leading armies at Pea Ridge and Corinth and then redeeming himself as a cavalry commander at Holly Springs and Thompson Station. Yet he was perhaps best known for his reputation as a womanizer killed by an irate husband at the height of his career.

Arthur B. Carter's biography of Van Dom, the first in three decades, draws on previously unpublished sources regarding the general's affair with Martha Goodbread -- which resulted in three children -- and his liaison with Jessica Peters, which resulted in his death. This new material, unknown to previous biographers, includes the revelation that the true circumstances of Van Dorn's death were kept secret by friends and comrades in order to protect his family. Carter reveals that the general was probably mortally wounded on the Peters plantation but was carried b

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
The Way of the Warrior	1	(22)
A Splendid Little War	23	(18)
The Long Road to Pea Ridge	41	(27)
Mississippi's Defender	68	(22)
The Battle of Corinth	90	(22)
The Dark Days of Fall	112	(15)
The Van Dorn Raid	127	(20)
A Game of Fox and Hounds	147	(13)
Springtime in Tennessee	160	(20)
A Murder Most Foul	180	(23)
Epilogue	201	(2)
Notes	203	(26)
Bibliography	229	(12)
Index	241