In Tennessee, Confederate General Earl Van Dorn is shot to death by a jealous husband

Earl Van Dorn was a capable cavalry leader famous for his pursuit of the opposite sex.  While stationed in Spring Hill, Tennessee, he had met Jessie McKissack Peters, attractive wife of a local doctor named James Bodie Peters. Dr. Peters confronted Van Dorn at his headquarters late at night and shot him in the head from behind.  Van Dorn lived for a few hours but died of his wounds.  Peters was never brought to trial. Questions remain today over this case, including Peters' Unionist connections and the paternity of a daughter born nine months later.  (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
Tobin T. Buhk, True Crime in the Civil War: Cases of Murder, Treason, Counterfeiting, Massacre, Plunder, & Abuse (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2012), 125-134. 
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    Crime/Disasters
    How to Cite This Page: "In Tennessee, Confederate General Earl Van Dorn is shot to death by a jealous husband ," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/39423.