The Legend of Van Dorn tells the story of General Earl Van Dorn, a gifted but controversial military commander whose ambition, battlefield victories, personal failures, and turbulent relationships made him one of the Civil War's most colorful figures. After setbacks threaten his military career, Van Dorn is given another chance and returns to cavalry command, where the daring tactics that made him famous restore his military reputation. His audacious raid on the Union supply depot at Holly Springs forces Ulysses S. Grant to abandon his overland advance on Vicksburg, temporarily relieving the threat to the Confederacy's vital Mississippi River stronghold. His subsequent victory at Thompson's Station, Tennessee, further cements Van Dorn's comeback and his reputation as an elite cavalry commander. Away from the battlefield, however, Van Dorn's drinking, womanizing, and relationship with the married Jessie Peters create dangers that military success cannot overcome. As the affair intensifies, a Union spy approaches her jealous husband, Dr. George Peters, offering him money to assassinate Van Dorn. With enemies closing in and scandal threatening everything he has regained, the stage is set for a violent and unexpected end.