The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Taylor, Zachary
TAYLOR, Zachary, 12th President of the
United States: b. Orange County, Va., 24 Sept.
1784; d. 9 July 1850. His father, Col. Richard
Taylor, served under Washington and be held
a number of important offices in Kentucky
where he migrated soon after the birth of
Zachary. Young Taylor grew up in the vicinity
of Louisville in the midst of its exciting
frontier life. In 1808 aroused by the Chesapeake
outrage, Taylor asked for a commission in
the army and in May was commissioned first

lieutenant in the Seventh United States infantry,
In 1812 he was made a captain and in the
War of 1812 gained distinction in defeating
an Indian attack on Fort Harrison, for which
success he was breveted a major. In May
1814 he received a regular commission as
major but left the service at the close of the
war on being reduced to the rank of captain.
He re-entered the army in 1816 and in 1819
was promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy. For
the next few years he was stationed at different
frontier posts but in 1832 during the Black
Hawk War, as colonel, received the surrender
of the Indian chieftain. In 1832 he was ordered
to Florida in the Seminole campaign and at
the battle of Okeechobee (25 Dec. 1837) won
a decisive victory over the Indians, for which
he was breveted a brigadier-general. Taylor
spent the next four years in Florida and was
then given command of the First Department
of the army with headquarters at Fort Jessup,
La. On 28 May 1845 Taylor, in command of
the army of the Southwest, was ordered to
hold himself in readiness to defend Texas from
a possible invasion should the latter State
accept the terms of annexation. On 30 July 1845
he was ordered to “occupy, protect and
defend Texas,” and to approach the Rio Grande
which was “claimed to be the boundary
between the two countries” (Texas and Mexico).
At the same time he was cautioned to keep
away from the Mexican settlements and posts.
In August, Taylor selected a position at Corpus
Christi on the Nueces. Then followed a series
of ambiguous orders from the War Department
commanding him to check any Mexican
army endeavoring to cross the Rio Grande
or any attempt to do so. Taylor reported there
was no concentration of Mexicans on the Rio
Grande nor any signs of war; but, beginning
to understand what the administration
desired of him, asked for definite orders to
advance. This the War Department refused to
give and for a few months a delay ensued
while the administration renewed its negotiations
with the Mexican government. At last,
in obedience to instructions from Washington,
on 11 March 1846 Taylor began his advance
from Corpus Christi to the Rio Grande. On
the 28th he arrived opposite the Mexican town
of Matamoras and began the construction of
Fort Texas, afterward called Fort Brown, upon
the present site of Brownsville. Taylor blocked
the mouth of the Rio Grande with a view of
cutting off all supplies from Matamoras and
thus forcing the Mexican troops stationed there
either to withdraw or to assume the offensive.
On 12 April General Ampudia summoned him
to retire beyond the Nueces, and with Taylor's
refusal do so the first conflict occurred on
24 April when a party of dragoons were
ambushed by the Mexicans. President Polk at
once sent a message to Congress recommending
a declaration of war, asserting that “Mexico
has passed the boundary of the United States,
has invaded our territory and shed American
blood upon the American soil.”

The war on Mexico began with the advance
of Taylor's forces. On 8 and 9 May, Taylor
defeated the Mexicans at the battle of Palo
Alto and Resaca de la Palma and forced them
to cross the Rio Grande. Following in quick
pursuit, Taylor occupied Matamoras (18 May).

With the refusal of Mexico to negotiate, Polk
determined to conquer the northern provinces
and in August, Taylor resumed his advance
and after a three days' battle captured the
city of Monterey (21-23 September). By this
time Polk began to distrust Taylor on account
of his supposed Whig affiliations. It was
embarrassing for a Democratic administration to
have a Whig general reaping all the glory, and
with a view toward checking his operations
Polk detached most of Taylor's experienced
troops for the intended advance upon Vera
Cruz under Gen. Winfield Scott. Santa Anna,
the Mexican commander-in-chief, learning of
Taylor's weakened condition rapidly concentrated
20,000 men and marched northward to
crush him. To retire to the Rio Grande meant
a loss of all the prestige so far gained and,
therefore, Taylor decided to fight. He took a
position at the hacienda Buena Vista, five miles
south of Saltillo. Here after three unsuccessful
attempts by Santa Anna, Taylor gained the
most decisive victory of the whole war and
remained in undisputed possession of the
region. Taylor's brilliant victory, handicapped
as he had been by the authorities in Washington,
suggested him as a possible Presidential
candidate to the Whig politicians. Thurlow
Weed learned from the “general's brother that
Taylor had always been an admirer of Clay
and preferred home-made goods to foreign
importations.” Taylor meetings became the
fashion throughout the country; he was
nominated at public assemblies in Ohio, Kentucky,
Virginia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, and
although he had never even voted and had no
views on political topics, supported by Weed,
Crittenden and Stephens, he gained the
nomination at the Whig Convention (May 1848)
over the claims of Webster and Clay. In the
succeeding campaign Taylor carried eight slave
States while his opponent secured seven. The
one all-absorbing question after the inauguration
of Taylor was the question of what should
be done with slavery in the Territories. Both
parties in the campaign had side-stepped the
issue, the Whigs having adopted no platform
and the Democrats having trusted to the
well-known views of their candidate, Lewis Cass.
President Taylor, although master of a plantation
in Louisiana, admitted anti-slavery leaders
in the Whig party to his counsel and William
H. Seward became his confidential adviser.
The Wilmot proviso, the question of the
organization of the Territory of Oregon and the
admission of California already had demanded
immediate attention. Accordingly the first
message of the President was awaited with
interest. Taylor already had made up his mind
to recommend the admission of California as a
free State and his fatherly message breathed
with devotion to the Union. But Clay and
Webster determined to take matters into their
own hands and in January Clay offered his
plan of compromising the sectional issue. Taylor
characterized the Territorial portion of
Clay's measures as the “Omnibus Bill” and
was preparing to oppose them when he died
on 9 July 1850.

Bibliography. — Stoddard, W. O., ‘Zachary
Taylor’; Howard, O. O., ‘Zachary Taylor’
(in ‘Great Commanders Series,’ 1892).