General Earl Van Dorn was born in Mississippi in 1821; he was graduated
from West Point in 1842, and was killed in a personal quarrel in 1863.
Early in the war General Van Dorn had distinguished himself by capturing
the steamer "Star of the West" at Indianola, Texas. He was of a
tempestuous nature and had natural fighting qualities. During the month of
August he commanded all the Confederate troops in Mississippi except those
under General Price, and it was his idea to form a combined movement with
the latter's forces and expel the invading Federals from the northern
portion of his native State and from eastern Tennessee. The concentration
was made and the Confederate army, about 22,000 men, was brought into the
disastrous battle of Corinth. Brave were the charges made on the
entrenched positions, but without avail.
[Illustration: GENERAL STERLING PRICE, C. S. A.]