Description: TITLE: The Tarnished Cavalier: Major General Earl Van Dorn, C.S.A AUTHOR: Arthur B. Carter PUBLISHER: University of Tennessee Press (1999 - Out of Print)CONDITION: VG+ hardcover. Spine straight. Binding solid. Spine tips very gently bumped. Corners square. Pages clean, unmarked. VG jacket is bright, shiny, with faint scratching and minor wrinkling over spine tips and some corner tips. Description: 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 Arthur B. Carter’s biography of Van Dorn, the first in three decades, draws on previously unpublished sources regarding the general’s affair with Martha Goodbread—which resulted in three children—and his liaison with Jessica Peters, which resulted in his death.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 back to his Spring Hill headquarters. He reconstructs the details of Van Dorn's murder in a brisk narrative that draws on accounts of Van Dorn's confidantes, capturing both the danger and passion of those events. The Tarnished Cavalier is more than a story of scandal. Carter sheds new light on Confederate conduct of the war in the western theater during 1861 and 1862, revisits the pivotal battles of Pea Ridge and Corinth—both of which are important to understanding the loss of the upper South—and introduces new perspectives on the defense of Vicksburg and the Middle Tennessee operations of early 1863. Carter’s narrative juxtaposes Van Dorn's flamboyance with his failings as a commander: although he was a soldier with heroic aspirations, he was also impulsive, reckless, and unable to delegate authority. Perhaps more telling, it shows how Van Dorn’s character flaws extended to his personal life, cutting short a promising career. SHIPPING: Item ships as is (no refunds, exchanges, or returns). Shipping is by USPS Media Mail.BOOK WILL BE CAREFULLY PACKAGED in a custom-sized cardboard book mailer for strong protection in transit.
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Publication Year: 1999
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Book Title: The Tarnished Cavalier : Major General Earl Van Dorn C.S.A
Narrative Type: Nonfiction
Author: Arthur B. Carter
Publisher: University of Tennessee Press
Genre: Biographies & True Stories, History, Military, War & Combat
Topic: Civil War, Military History, True Military Stories, War, Warfare
Number of Pages: 261 Pages