Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-08-21
Tbs Murder of Earl Van Dorm
Cincinnati Enquirer.

y
70 cumstances Of Van Dorn's
" death ~ ] asked. ,ss..
10 Yes; was right there. He
. . was assassinated at Spring Hill,
@ Tennessee, by DIR. Peters in
o 1854" Spring Hills in Maury
y county, not far south Of Frank
o lin, where Stanley fought his bat
0 tie against Hood.)
: "What kind of a man was
Van Dorm" ~=
Q "In all physical and social res
Q poets he was a perfect knight,
Q belonging to the middle ages
rather than this age. He was
0 quite young fellow when he
9 was killed, perhaps thirty-six,
, but had been distinguished in
0 the old army before the war as
a celebrated Indian fighter. He
: was in those days what Cook and.
Miles and Custer have been in
ours. Marvellous statements are
told of his horsemanship, and
hoy he would ride into the CO.
manches, Navajahoes and other
bands, sabering right and left.
On the field of battle he was the
coolest man / ever saw. Often
when / had felt sick at the stom-
ach and wanted to compress myl
shoulders and ribs into a. little
space, ] have seen Van Dorm sit
there under a rain Of bullets, alb
solutely enjoying himself. He
was knightly fellow to look at.
His hair was a clear golden coli
or, and in natural linglets it fell
all around his shoulders and neck
and looked like a King Charles
wig. lie had rich, goIdehlhus-
tache, which sprung across the
whole upper part of the face and
showed itself around his chops,
and then he wore a chin Whlsker.
lie had the softest blue eyes,
clean-cut features and good
teeth. He was rather below
middle size and a splendid horse
man and man-at-arms.y Besides,
he could blush like a girl. This,
with his winning address, made
him absolutely irresistible to wo-
men. Wherever he went they
gave way. .vloA} HWi K
"With all this had he any
brains Z" l4jJUG Is
"Oh, yes. He was one of the
few men in either army that
could sing and play musical in
strmments with a sweet, rich
voice and accomplished hand.
He wrote poetry. In. his dress
he was as neat as pin. As
soon as he entered a household (
his bearing attracted, his address {
delighted, his accomplishments s
made the women worship him, {
and l am sorry to say that he q
had very little principle on that 6
question"
"What was his parentage ?" I
DWELL, his father was an old S
Mississippi judge, and | suppose, II
by the name, of Dutch descent. a
The old man was just about bis c
size, and often used to,eome over L
to our camp, and he was almost e
invariably full of wh;skey. One a
day he said to me, doctor do '
you hear what some of these c
chaps have been saying about
me,-that / drink q good deal of
whiskey? They don't know, doc q
tor, what a great deal Of thirst "
/ havev' Van Dorm had mar u
ricd in Alabama, | think, and ?
his conduct aggrieved his wife, Il
l believe she sent for p
his body after his death and took v
it to Alabama and buried it on v
her farm in field, where / sup !
pose he lies without stone" q
"What are the circumstances 9
of his assassinationp" e
"Doctor Peters was a practic- u
IL.
ing physician at Spring Hill 9
He had married his second wife, d
younger than him. e
self-a giddy, foolish, pretty wo- v
man. Ii was absolutely certain '
that when seen by Van Dorm, IL
and listened to him, there would ]
be a Irritation andperlapa an ill- "
trigue. II happened Of course. Il
Peters was one Of those silent Ii
dead men You meet with in Ten t
nessce and dcrivative States; he L
had a pair Of COOL gray eyes, lc
which in ordinary times were "
nearly expressionless, but under N
would start mp de- L
moniac. Inflicta personal wrong b
on such a person and he would \
be worse than an Indian. He Q
had a lean, listloss look, but Z
turned into iron when excited. m
Van Dorm came into the com- L
try laboring under bad reputa- b
ton. He had been accused of d
the two daughters of Il
the Mayor Of Vicksburg, and it W
was said 6f him at Memphis that G
with the family Of the leading e,
official there, mother and daugh- =
ter, he had been treacherous. | h
understood that he had not Sc t
duced in those cases, the women i
I .......... l.nf.n.sar No n