What is Richard Taylor (Confederate general)?
{{for|the Canadian [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] laureate|Richard E. Taylor}} {{for|the British mathematician|Richard Taylor (mathematician)}} '''Richard Taylor''' (January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879) was an American [[plantation]] [[Ownership|owner]], [[politician]] and [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] general in the [[American Civil War]].<ref name=rtCWT>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/richard-taylor.html |title=Richard Taylor Lieutenant General January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879 |author= |date= |website= |publisher=Civil War Trust |accessdate=12 October 2016 |archive-date=October 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017220204/http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/biographies/richard-taylor.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was born in 1826 in [[Kentucky]]. His father was [[Zachary Taylor]], who was a U.S. general and later a U.S. president. Richard Taylor graduated from Yale University in 1845. When his father died in 1851, he inherited a [[sugar cane]] plantation in [[Louisiana]]. When the Civil War started, he became [[colonel]] of the 9th Louisiana Infantry. He fought in [[Virginia]]. He became a [[brigadier general]] in October 1861. In July 1862, he became a [[major general]]. After that, he was made the commander of the District of West Louisiana. He fought against several [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] armies trying to invade western Louisiana, including during the [[Red River Campaign]] in 1864. While he was in western Louisiana, Taylor often disagreed with [[Edmund Kirby Smith]]. Smith commanded the Confederates west of the [[Mississippi River]]. Because they disagreed so often, Taylor was sent east of the Mississippi in April 1864. He commanded Confederates in Mississippi and [[Alabama]] until the end of the war in May 1865. Taylor died on April 12, 1879 in [[New York City]].<ref name=HickmanAC>{{cite web |url=http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/ConfederateLeaders/p/American-Civil-War-Lieutenant-General-Richard-Taylor.htm