To the editor: The Feb. 22 GazetteLeader reported the opening of a new Fairfax County library building in Vienna will see a change from the current name (Patrick Henry) to “Vienna-Carter.”
This is a change from the continuing renaming of Northern Virginia streets with Confederate associations, such as Lee Highway becoming Langston Boulevard.
I suggest that Van Dorn Street in Alexandria and Fairfax County NOT be changed, because of the unique contributions this Confederate general made to the Union cause, especially in keeping Missouri in the Union by losing the Battle of Pea Ridge.
On two of the rare occasions when the Confederates outnumbered the Union forces, at Pea Ridge and Second Corinth, Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn lost the engagements. For these unintended contributions to the defeat of the Confederate cause and Union victory, I suggest that all jurisdictions should retain his name.
Another reason for not changing the name is the way in which Van Dorn met his demise. He died during the war – not from an enemy bullet on the battlefield, but rather one fired by a jealous husband.
Van Dorn was indeed a cavalier, a womanizer, with the result that an unhappy husband exacted his revenge. The street name should thus remain as a warning to straying spouses.
Thanks for an opportunity to plunge a bit deeper into our abundant Civil War history, to include the bits not usually treated in school textbooks.
Richard Garrison, Arlington
