{⋆★⋆} MG Van Dorn, Earl

Earl Van Dorn

:CSA1stNat:
Van Dorn.jpg


Born: September 17, 1820

Birth Place: Port Gibson, Claiborne County, Mississippi

Father: Peter Aaron Van Dorn 1773 – 1837
(Buried: Wintergreen Cemetery, Port Gibson, Mississippi)​

Mother: Sophia Donelson Caffery
(Buried: Wintergreen Cemetery, Port Gibson, Mississippi)​

Wife: Caroline Godbold 1827 – 1876
(Buried: Godbold – Webb – Simms Cemetery, Washington Co., Alabama)​

Children:

Olivia Van Dorn Lumsden 1852 – 1874​
(Buried: Godbold – Webb – Simms Cemetery, Washington Co., Alabama)​
Earl Van Dorn Jr. 1854 – 1884​
(Buried: Monroe City Cemetery, Monroe, Louisiana)​
Percy Goodbread Van Dorn 1856 – 1879​
(Buried: Wrightsboro Cemetery, Wrightsboro, Texas)​
Lammie Belle Van Dorn Carr 1858 – 1930​
(Buried: Mission Burial Park South, San Antonio, Texas)​
Douglas Van Dorn 1861 – 1906
Van Dorn 1.jpg
(Buried: Wrightsboro Cemetery, Wrightsboro, Texas)​

Education:

1842: Graduated from West Point Military Academy (52nd out of 56)​

Occupation before War:

1842 – 1861: Served in the United States Army, rising to Major​
1847 – 1848: Aide to General P. F. Smith​

Civil War Career:

1861: Brigadier General in the Mississippi State Militia​
1861: Major General, & Commander of Mississippi State Militia​
1861: Colonel of 1st Confederate Cavalry, Regulars Regiment
Van Dorn 2.jpg
1861: Brigadier General of Confederate Army, Infantry​
1861 – 1863: Major General of Confederate Army, Infantry​
1862: Confederate Commander at Holly Springs Raid​
1862: Commander during the Battle of Pea Ridge​
1862: Commander during the Second Battle of Corinth​
1863: Confederate Cavalry Commander Dept. of Mississippi, and East Louisiana​
1863: Successful during the Battle of Thompson's Station​
1863: Shot at his headquarters at Spring Hill, Tennessee​

Died: May 7, 1863

Place of Death: Spring Hill, Tennessee

Age at time of Death: 42 years old

Cause of Death: Wounds to the head due to bullet shot from citizen

Burial Place: Wintergreen Cemetery, Port Gibson, Mississippi
 
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Yes. He went to Texas because of his pre-War service in Texas where he got his reputation for his bravery and action against the Indians. The Texans loved him whereas some in the Army thought he went too far in his attacks when they were trying to keep peace.
Yes, he lead a small band of men to capture the STAR OF THE WEST in the harbor of Galveston.

I recently finished his biography.

@gentlemanrob mentioned - Successful during the Battle of Thompson's Station.
He should have mention his successful Holly Springs Raid on Grant’s supplies.

In 1861, in Virginia, a correspondent described Earl Van Dorn, “The General is rather undersized—of a spare frame, erect & graceful in his movements; his mustache is long but light; otherwise he is closely shaven, which is one cause of his youthful appearance. His uniform was a gray tunic, with buff collar & cuffs, heavy gold braiding on the sleeves & three stars on each side of his collar, the one in the center being the largest; as he drew back on his buck gauntlets; I caught sight of a cross, embroidered thereon in scarlet silk an ancient symbol of rank.” Major General Dabney Maury described him, “He used to ride a beautiful bay Andalusian horse, & as he came galloping along the lines, with his yellow hair waving in the wind & his bright face lighted with kindliness & courage, we all loved to see him. His figure was lithe & graceful, his stature did not exceed five feet eight inches, but his clear blue eyes, his firm set mouth, with white strong teeth, his well-cut nose with expanding nostrils, gave assurance of a man whom men could trust & follow.” With his classical education, he was erudite & cultured; his writing was laced with French & Latin.

In Nov of 1899, Emily Miller, with the help of her son T. Marshall Miller, had her brother’s body disinterred. She accompanied the casket by rail to Port Gibson for reburial next to his father in Wintergreen Cemetery, both stones facing south toward the Van Dorn home, as the Judge wished. At Port Gibson, the casket was opened, after more than 30 years of interment, & the remains were found to be in an excellent state of preservation. “The form was clad in the Confederate gray uniform of a Major-General, the belt, buckles & epaulettes being intact, & around his shoulders were the soft golden curls familiar to soldiers on a hundred battlefields as the intrepid warrior rode at the front of his men & urged them to battle.”
 
Earl Van Dorn.jpg

In 1861, in Virginia, a correspondent described Earl Van Dorn, “The General is rather undersized—of a spare frame, erect & graceful in his movements; his mustache is long but light; otherwise he is closely shaven, which is one cause of his youthful appearance. His uniform was a gray tunic, with buff collar & cuffs, heavy gold braiding on the sleeves & three stars on each side of his collar, the one in the center being the largest; as he drew back on his buck gauntlets; I caught sight of a cross, embroidered thereon in scarlet silk an ancient symbol of rank.” Major General Dabney Maury described him, “He used to ride a beautiful bay Andalusian horse, & as he came galloping along the lines, with his yellow hair waving in the wind & his bright face lighted with kindliness & courage, we all loved to see him. His figure was lithe & graceful, his stature did not exceed five feet eight inches, but his clear blue eyes, his firm set mouth, with white strong teeth, his well-cut nose with expanding nostrils, gave assurance of a man whom men could trust & follow.” With his classical education, he was erudite & cultured; his writing was laced with French & Latin.

In Nov of 1899, Emily Miller, with the help of her son T. Marshall Miller, had her brother’s body disinterred. She accompanied the casket by rail to Port Gibson for reburial next to his father in Wintergreen Cemetery, both stones facing south toward the Van Dorn home, as the Judge wished. At Port Gibson, the casket was opened, after more than 30 years of interment, & the remains were found to be in an excellent state of preservation. “The form was clad in the Confederate gray uniform of a Major-General, the belt, buckles & epaulettes being intact, & around his shoulders were the soft golden curls familiar to soldiers on a hundred battlefields as the intrepid warrior rode at the front of his men & urged them to battle.”
This is my favorite wartime photo of him.
 
Curious as to why two headstones?
From my understanding one is the original headstone and there was a newer one placed later.
Exactly - the one in the background is at the head of his grave, while the more recent U.S. Veterans' Administration issue one is serving as a footstone.
 
Exactly - the one in the background is at the head of his grave, while the more recent U.S. Veterans' Administration issue one is serving as a footstone.
I remembered visiting the grave back in December and seeing it laid out like that as well as reading in Generals at Rest about the headstones. A lot of headstones look different since that book came out years ago but it's a good guide to use when planning a trip to any General's grave.
 
One normally thinks of him in the western part of the Confederacy but early in the war He did lead a division in Virginia near Manassas with the Army of Northern Virginia.
My great grandfather Rev. Joseph Browning Kendrick was breveted from Sergeant to Third Lieutenant in the Virginia Militia unit raised in Russell County.
While serving as an infantry officer at Sharpsburg he received a musket ball in the left arm and was sent home to recover. He was still recuperating when his old unit took part in Pickett’s Charge, else I might not be writing this.
In 1865 when he was sufficiently well again he fathered my grandfather(1865-1945), whose first born of 15 children he named Earl Van Dorn Kendrick.
Your post set me to wondering if General Van Dorn was at Antietam or possibly my great grand father’s corps commander? Incidentally, he named my grand father William Drayton Kendrick, possibly after a Confederate surgeon who saved his arm. Speculating here. The general’s body is interred behind the Presbyterian Church at Port Gibson, a forty minute drive from my boyhood home.
Pine Hill Resident.
 
My great grandfather Rev. Joseph Browning Kendrick was breveted from Sergeant to Third Lieutenant in the Virginia Militia unit raised in Russell County.
While serving as an infantry officer at Sharpsburg he received a musket ball in the left arm and was sent home to recover. He was still recuperating when his old unit took part in Pickett’s Charge, else I might not be writing this.
In 1865 when he was sufficiently well again he fathered my grandfather(1865-1945), whose first born of 15 children he named Earl Van Dorn Kendrick.
Your post set me to wondering if General Van Dorn was at Antietam or possibly my great grand father’s corps commander? Incidentally, he named my grand father William Drayton Kendrick, possibly after a Confederate surgeon who saved his arm. Speculating here. The general’s body is interred behind the Presbyterian Church at Port Gibson, a forty minute drive from my boyhood home.
Pine Hill Resident.
Van Dorn wasn't at Antietam. I'm guessing he named him that for the same reason people during and after the war named their kids Robert E. Lee.
 
A correspondent described Earl Van Dorn, “The General is rather undersized—of a spare frame, erect & graceful in his movements; his mustache is long but light; otherwise he is closely shaven, which is one cause of his youthful appearance. His uniform was a gray tunic, with buff collar & cuffs, heavy gold braiding on the sleeves & three stars on each side of his collar, the one in the center being the largest; as he drew back on his buck gauntlets; I caught sight of a cross, embroidered thereon in scarlet silk an ancient symbol of rank.”

Major General Dabney Maury described him, “He used to ride a beautiful bay Andalusian horse, & as he came galloping along the lines, with his yellow hair waving in the wind & his bright face lighted with kindliness & courage, we all loved to see him. His figure was lithe & graceful, his stature did not exceed five feet eight inches, but his clear blue eyes, his firm set mouth, with white strong teeth, his well-cut nose with expanding nostrils, gave assurance of a man whom men could trust & follow.”

I saw an article where he was nicknamed "the terror of ugly husband's" because of his relationships with married women, which proved fatal for him.

No wonder the ugly husbands didn't like him.
 
because of his relationships with married women, which proved fatal for him.
That fact is why I've always seem to confuse Van Dorn with Wirt Adams.

Both were decent Mississippi Cavalry Generals at the same time.
Both had a reputation for enjoying the company of married women.
Both were wealthy and from prominent families.
Both were killed by enraged husbands.

Although Van Dorn's death is well documented,
many said Adams met the same fate, 20 plus years after the War .

The media of the day covered Adams' demise from a different angle:

In 1888 Adams died in Jackson in a street fight with a local newspaper editor who had written a critical editorial of the statesman.

I'm not sure if the truth will ever be known.

Sorry to get off topic.

This thread is about Earl ... not Wirt.

:smoke:
 
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That fact is why I've always seem to confuse Van Dorn with Wirt Adams.

Both were decent Mississippi Cavalry Generals at the same time.
Both had a reputation for enjoying the company of married women.
Both were wealthy and from prominent families.
Both were killed by enraged husbands.

Although Van Dorn's death is well documented,
many said Adams met the same fate, 20 plus years after the War .

The media of the day covered Adams' demise from a different angle:

In 1888 Adams died in Jackson in a street fight with a local newspaper editor who had written a critical editorial of the statesman.

I'm not sure if the truth will ever be known.

Sorry to get off topic.

This thread is about Earl ... not Wirt.

:smoke:
I've honestly never heard of that story regarding Adams. You've got me curious... I'll have to look into it.
 
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