they could be relied upon to do when
Secession should be brought about. He made Colonel of the regiment
Albert Sidney Johnston, later General, C. S. A.; Lieutenant-Colonels,
Robert E. Lee, afterward General, C. S. A.; W. J. Hardee,
Lieutenant-General, C. S. A., and E. Kirby Smith, General, C. S. A., and
the Majors were George H. Thomas, W. H. Emory, Major-Generals, U. S. A.,
and Earl Van Dorn, Major-General, C. S. A.

Mississippi seceded Jan. 9,1861. Earl Van Dorn promptly tendered his
resignation and became active, if he had not been before, in bringing
about the surrender by Gen. Twiggs of the United States troops, stores
and munitions of war in Texas, by which we lost nearly half of the
entire strength of the Regular Army, besides some $2,000,000 of
supplies, the control of the Mexican frontier, and a large portion
of Indian frontier. Van Dorn had been commissioned Colonel in the
Confederate army, and hoped to add the surrendered troops to the
military establishment of the Southern Confederacy. He put a great deal
of pressure upon the officers and men to induce them to change their
allegiance, but was remarkably unsuccessful in the latter, not a single
enlisted man accepting his offers of promotion and increased pay. Only
those officers went over whose course had been predetermined. None of
previous loyalty wavered for an instant.

312

Gen. Twiggs had made a capitulation with Gen. McCulloch, of Texas, as if
treating with another Nation. The terms were that the troops should be
conveyed to the nearest seaport, and thence sent home. The steamer "Star
of the West," which had come into notoriety as being the object at which
the first gun of the rebellion was aimed, had been sent to Indianola,
Tex., to receive Twiggs's troops. Van Dorn, enraged by his failure
to accomplish his purpose, violated the terms of the capitulation. He
marched his forces upon the unarmed troops gathered near Indianola,
compelled them to surrender, and captured the "Star of the West." The
officers and men were kept prisoners in Texas for months afterwards, and
subjected to much hardship.

Halleck wrote to Curtis: "Beware of Van Dorn. He is an energetic
officer."

Van Dorn was not to justify the high expectations entertained of him,
and after several failures to improve great opportunities he finally
fell, in 1863, at the age of 42, before the pistol of an injured
husband.

Van Dorn promptly repaired to his command, and seems to have be