Earl Van Dorn

Earl Van Dorn (September 17, 1820 – May 7, 1863) was a career United States Army officer and great-nephew of Andrew Jackson, fighting with distinction during the Mexican–American War and against several tribes of Native Americans.

In the American Civil War, he served as a Confederate general, appointed commander of the new Trans-Mississippi District. At the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in March 1862, he was defeated by a smaller Union force, partly because he had abandoned his supply-wagons for the sake of speed, leaving his men under-equipped in cold weather. At the Second Battle of Corinth in October 1862, he was again defeated through a failure of reconnaissance and removed from high command. He then scored two notable successes as a cavalry commander, capturing a large Union supply depot at Holly Springs and an enemy position at Thompson’s Station, Tennessee. In May 1863, he was shot dead at his headquarters at Spring Hill by a doctor who claimed that Van Dorn had carried on an affair with his wife.