Taylor, Zachary Taylor
U.S. President of the United States
Before he became president of the United States in 1849, Zachary Taylor served
his country for nearly 40 years as an army officer. He fought with courage and honor in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War,
the Second Seminole War, and the Mexican War. At the close of the Mexican War he was the second highest officer in the United
States Army. His term as president was cut short by death before much had been accomplished, but not before Taylor had made
clear his devotion to the preservation of the Union, his absolute integrity, his unyielding firmness, and his modesty.
Early Years
Taylor was born near Barboursville in Orange County, Virginia, on November
24, 1784. His father was Lieutenant Colonel Richard Taylor, a veteran of the Revolutionary War and a member of a long-established
Virginia family. Through his father, Zachary Taylor was related to President James Madison and General Robert E. Lee.
In the spring of 1785, when Zachary was only a few months old, Richard Taylor
took his family west to Kentucky (then a part of Virginia) to settle on lands he had received for his service in the Revolution.
His new plantation was along the banks of the Muddy Fork of Beargrass Creek, a few miles east of the village of Louisville.
Here Zachary Taylor spent his boyhood. At first the population of this wilderness region was small. But gradually the frontier
was pushed back, and life for the Taylors became more comfortable. The family grew to include six sons and three daughters.
Zachary probably had little, if any, formal education beyond that received at a small school in Louisville. Additional instruction
was likely given by him by his parents.
Zachary Taylor remained at home, assisting in the operation of the plantation,
until 1808. In that year he was appointed first lieutenant in the 7th Infantry Regiment. The appointment marked the beginning
of a military career that, except for one brief period, continued until Taylor's election as president 40 years later.
Early Military Career
Between 1808 and 1837, Taylor was stationed at various army posts, mostly
on the Northwest frontier but occasionally in the Southwest. During the War of 1812 (1812-14), he took part in a number of
military campaigns against the British and their Indian allies. He slowly advanced in rank, receiving his commission as major
in 1815. Later that year, when the Army was reduced to peacetime strength, he resigned rather than return to the rank of captain.
But after less than a year in civilian life, which he spent growing corn and tobacco near Louisville, Taylor was appointed
major in the 3rd Regiment. In 1819 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
By 1832, Taylor, now 47 years old, was a colonel, commanding the 1st Regiment.
The Black Hawk War broke out the same year, and Taylor took part in the hard-fought campaign against Chief Black Hawk and
the Sac Indians in Illinois.
His Family and Home Life
This same period of nearly 30 year was important in Taylor's family and domestic
life. In 1810, he married Margaret Mackall Smith, daughter of a Maryland planter. Five daughters and one son were born to
them. Two of the daughters died in early childhood. A third, Sarah Knox, died only a few months after her marriage to Jefferson
Davis, then a lieutenant in Taylor's regiment and later to become the president of the Confederacy. The other two daughters
also married army officers. Taylor's youngest child and only son, Richard, became a lieutenant general in the Confederate
Army.
In addition to his military career, Taylor took an active interest in planting.
In 1823 he purchased a 155-hectare (380-acre) cotton plantation in northern Louisiana. In later years he bought Cypress Grove,
a much larger plantation in Mississippi.
The Second Seminole War
In the summer of 1837, Taylor was ordered to take his regiment to Florida.
Since late 1835 the Army had been fighting the Seminole Indians, and reinforcements were needed. This was the start of events
that were to make Taylor a national hero and carry him to the White House.
In December 1837, with a force of nearly 1,100 men, including regular soldiers,
volunteers, and some Shawnee and Delaware Indians, Taylor set out in search of the Seminole. On December 25, after hard marching
through very rough and difficult country, he found the Seminole at Lake Okeechobee and defeated them in a desperate battle.
This victory won for Taylor the thanks of President Van Buren and a brevet (honorary) commission as brigadier general. But
the war continued, and in 1838 Taylor was placed in command. For 2 years, he directed the fighting against the Seminole. His
efforts were commended by the secretary of war, but he had no greater success in subduing the Seminole than had his predecessors.
In 1840, at his own request, he was relieved of command and assigned to duty in the Southwest. Here his main concern once
again was with the Indians.
In 1836, after winning its independence from Mexico, Texas had established
itself as an independent republic: Republic of Texas. Early negotiations for Texas to join the United States had failed, but in 1844 these negotiations were renewed. Mexico,
however, strongly opposed American annexation of Texas, and the Texans, fearing attack, requested protection from the United
States.
Taylor was ordered to Fort Jesup, close to the Texas-Louisiana border. He
remained there until July 1845, when he was ordered to move his forces to the coast of Texas. Early in 1846 he was ordered
to advance to the Rio Grande, the river that Texas claimed as its border with Mexico. On April 25, 1846, Mexican troops crossed
the Rio Grande and attacked a U.S. detachment. In May a larger Mexican force crossed the river. Although badly outnumbered,
Taylor gave battle, defeating the Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
The American people hailed Taylor as a hero. Promoted to major general, he
became the second ranking officer in the U.S. Army. He was outranked only by Major General Winfield Scott, the Commanding General of the Army.
After Congress declared war on May 13, 1846, Taylor crossed the Rio Grande.
On September 25, he captured the Mexican city of Monterrey. By November 1846, he had advanced some 200 miles (320 kilometers)
into Mexico.
Meanwhile, President James K. Polk had given General Winfield Scott command
of a new Mexican expedition, and most of Taylor's best troops were transferred to Scott's forces. The angry Taylor claimed
that Polk had acted so for political reasons. (Both Polk and Scott were Democrats.) Despite orders to remain on the defensive,
Taylor advanced with his weakened forces. On February 22-23, 1847, at the battle of Buena Vista, he defeated a Mexican army
under General Antonio López de Santa Anna that was four times larger than his own. This was Taylor's last battle of the war.
The Presidency
Although Taylor had no political experience, leaders of the Whig Party urged
his nomination for the presidency in 1848; Taylor at first refused but later accepted the nomination. In the election Taylor
carried eight southern and seven northern states, exactly half of the total. But he won 163 electoral votes, 36 more than
Lewis Cass, the Democratic candidate. Martin Van Buren, a former president, ran unsuccessfully as the Free Soil Party candidate.
The Slavery Crisis.
When Taylor was inaugurated in 1849, the nation faced a
crisis. Controversy between North and South over the question of slavery in the Western
territories had grown increasingly bitter. Opponents of slavery insisted that Congress had the constitutional authority to keep slavery out of the territories. Southerners were equally certain that Congress had no such authority,
and Southern extremists threatened secession (to leave the Union) if Congress took such action. Compromise proposals to settle
this and other slavery problems were introduced into Congress by Henry Clay. Taylor opposed them. This was partly because
he had already suggested a plan of his own, partly because of a growing feud with Clay, and partly because he believed that
the Union could not be preserved by compromise reached in the face of threats of secession.
Though a Southerner and slaveholder, Taylor had no sympathy with the southern
position in this crisis. He was ready to take the field and lead the Army himself if rebellion occurred. The measures known
as the Compromise of 1850 were not enacted until after Taylor's death, and his death was one of the factors that made their passage possible.
In the field of foreign affairs the chief accomplishment of the Taylor administration
was the negotiation of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Great Britain in 1850. The treaty provided that neither country would
have exclusive control over any ship canal through Central America or could fortify such a canal. Trouble with Spain over
Cuba threatened but was avoided, and honest friendship with all nations was maintained.
Taylor's Death.
In his hard-fought campaigns against the Seminole, Taylor
had won the nickname of "Old Rough and Ready." But by the time he entered the White House he was no longer in robust health.
On July 4, 1850, he took part in Independence Day celebrations. After dinner that evening, he collapsed with what appeared
to be a stomach ailment but was actually cholera. He died on July 9, 1850, and was succeeded as president by Millard Fillmore.
(Rumors that Taylor might have been poisoned were disproved when his body was exhumed and tested by scientists in 1991.)
Taylor was of medium height, short-legged, and heavy-set. He dressed plainly,
at times carelessly, and made an undistinguished appearance. He was a man of absolute honesty, straightforward and simple
in manner, strong-minded and firm almost to the point of obstinacy. He was not a military genius, but he was a hard-working,
successful officer. He was not a great statesman, but he was a faithful servant of the people.
Brainerd Dyer
Author, Zachary Taylor
