President
Zachary Taylor
Compiled by D. A. Sharpe
Zachary Taylor was born
November 24, 1784 in Orange County, Virginia. His Christian faith was in the Episcopal
Church.
Zachary Taylor is my 32nd
cousin, once removed. In addition,
he is the father-in-law of Confederacy
President Jefferson Davis, the Uncle to Susanah Elizabeth
Davis Abney, the wife of James (Jim) Addison Abney of Lufkin, Texas. Jim is a brother-in-law of Martha Jane
Dixon Abney, daughter of Judge
Felix Benedict Dixon, my great, great grandfather, the ancestor
with whom my qualification was documented for membership in the Sons of the Republic of Texas
in 2005. President Davis' first
wife, Sarah Knox Taylor, is my 33rd cousin. Sarah is the third cousin, five times
removed to my son-in-law, Steven O. Westmoreland.
President Zachary Taylor
is a 15th cousin, four times removed to President Thomas Jefferson, as well as
a half 13th cousin, six times removed to President Washington. Taylor was a second cousin to President
James Madison. Taylor's great
grandfather was also the great grandfather of James Madison.
Destined to become the
12th President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, a strong military man
known as ÒOld Rough and Ready." This was one of the descriptive nicknames
that were to be given him later in life.
Zachary studied under
tutors, as there were not schools near their Louisville, Kentucky farm. He worked on his father's farm. In 1808, he was appointed first lieutenant
in the U.S. Army. In 1810, he was
promoted to Captain.
Zachary married Margaret Smith. They gave issue to five daughters and
the last child was a son: Ann
Taylor, Sarah Knox Taylor, Octavia P. Taylor, Mary Smith Taylor, Mary Elizabeth
Taylor and Richard Taylor.
During the War of 1812,
Zachary was promoted to major for his defense of Fort Harrison in the Indiana
Territory. In 1819, he became a
lieutenant colonel. He served in
Wisconsin during the Black Hawk War and received the surrender of Chief
Black Hak, in 1832.
In Florida, he led the
forces that defeated the Seminole Indians at Lake Okeechobee on Christmas Day,
1837. This victory brought him the
honorary rank of brigadier general.
In 1841, Zachary became commander of the second department of the
Western Division of the U.S. Army, headquartered at Fort Smith, Arkansas.
In 1846, he ordered about
4,000 troops to the Rio Grande to meet the threat posed by Mexico making an
invasion of the land which had been annexed away from Mexico. Zachary's troops defeated the Mexican
forces in battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. The United States declared war on Mexico
on May 13, 1846. He advanced into
Mexico and captured Matamoros and Monterrey.
After these victories,
Zachary seemed the obvious choice to lead an invading army into the central
valley of Mexico. But President James K. Polk,
a Democrat, knew that Zachary favored the rival Whig Party. Because Polk feared
the growth of a popular Whig leader, he named General Winfield
Scott to lead that campaign.
On February 22-23, 1847,
before Scott's army departed, Taylor's army, then about 5,000 strong, was
attacked by General
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's forces of between 16,000
and 20,000 Mexican soldiers.
Zachary's troops won a stunning victory over Santa Anna's troops. The triumph, some historians evaluate,
was due more to the skill and vigor of the U.S. Army troops than to his
generalship, but the victory made General Zachary Taylor a national hero.
Taylor's favorite warhorse was named "Old Whitey."
He
served as President of the United States from March 5, 1849. Constitutionally, he should have assumed
the Presidency on March 4. However, since that was a Sunday, he declined to use
Sunday for that purpose, choosing instead to attend worship services. Some historians claim that David R.
Atchison, president pro tempore of the Senate, served as acting President on
March 4, because the presidency was vacant on that day. Taylor was age 64 when
inaugurated as President. This was
the only elective office he ever served.
He
was informed of his winning the Presidency via a U.S. Postal Service letter.
The story is that there was postage due, insufficient postage having be affix
by the sender. Taylor objected to
receiving any postage-due mail. So,
it ended up several days later before the winning notification finally came
into his hands!
In
those days, the political parties nominated the presidential and vice
presidential candidates, sometimes with the presence of the nominated
persons. As it happened, Taylor never
met face-to-face his Vice Presidential running mate, Millard Fillmore, until the
election was over!
In
the question of Christian faith of Zachary Taylor, a quote from a semi-weekly
tribune sheds light in his view of the Bible:
ÒIt was for the love of the truth of this
great book (the Bible) that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the
wilderness. Animated by its lofty
principles, they toiled and suffered till the desert blossomed as the rose (Isaiah 35:1) É The Bible is the best of books,
and I wish it were in the hands of everyone. It is indispensable to the safety and
permanence of our institutions; a free government cannot exist without religion
and morals, and there cannot be morals without religion, nor religion without
the Bible. Especially should the
Bible be placed in the hands of the young.
It is the best school book in the world É I would that all of our people
were brought up under the influence of that Holy Book.Ó
Source: ÒThe President and the Bible,Ó New York
Semi Weekly Tribune, Wednesday, May 9, 1849, Vol IV, No. 100, page 1
Taylor
took ill after participating in a July 4th ceremony in 1850, and died a few
days later, on July 9, 1850 in Washington, D.C. Taylor
celebrated Independence Day at the Washington
Monument. He snacked on cherries that are
believed to have had bacteria on them. He became sick and died five days later.
He
was the second President to die in office.
He died after serving only 16 months as President.
Compiled
by:
Dwight
Albert (D. A.) Sharpe
805
Derting Road East
Aurora,
TX 76078-3712
817-504-6508
