Buck

In May 1863, General Earl “Buck” Van Dorn was in overall command of Confederate cavalry in the Western Theater. A West Point graduate, great-nephew of Andrew Jackson, and a hero of the Indian and Mexican Wars, Van Dorn was a dashing man—an accomplished horseman, poet, and painter. He was also a notorious womanizer—so much so that one reporter at the time referred to him as “the terror of ugly husbands.”

While encamped near Spring Hill, Tennessee, General Van Dorn made the acquaintance of Jessie Peters, the young wife of Dr. George Peters, a local physician whose out-of-state business affairs and duties as a legislator kept him away from home for long periods of time. Soon Mrs. Peters was spending lots of time alone with General Van Dorn, stirring up rumors that eventually made their way to her husband.

When Dr. Peters arrived home, unexpected and unannounced, at 2:30 a.m. on May 6, 1863, he found his wife and the general in a state of affairs that any husband would find highly objectionable. Dr. Peters put a gun to Van Dorn’s head and threatened to kill him on the spot. The general begged for mercy and Dr. Peters relented, on the condition that Van Dorn write and sign a public confession, as well as a letter to Mrs. Van Dorn admitting his infidelity. General Van Dorn consented, and Dr. Peters spared him.

Two days later, having not received the confessions, Dr. Peters appeared at Van Dorn’s headquarters, demanding them. No longer under immediate duress, Van Dorn refused, telling Peters that such documents would damage his reputation and the Confederate cause. He then ordered Peters out of his camp, turned his back on him, sat down at his desk and resumed his paperwork. Enraged, Dr. Peters took out his pistol and shot the general in the back of the head, mortally wounding him.

George Peters was never prosecuted or charged with any crime. Van Dorn’s conduct was widely condemned throughout the South, even though his murder deprived the Confederacy of one of its most senior officers.

Jessie and George Peters divorced, but later remarried. After the war George was a successful physician and businessman in Memphis. He died in 1889. Jessie lived until 1921. They are buried beside each other, in unmarked graves.