Zachary Taylor: U.S. Army Career and Presidency

• Zachary Taylor was born in 1784 in Louisville, Kentucky.
• He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808 and rose through the ranks to become a major general.
• In 1845, during the annexation of Texas, President James K. Polk dispatched Taylor to the Rio Grande in anticipation of a battle with Mexico over the disputed Texas–Mexico border.
• The Mexican–American War broke out in April 1846, and Taylor defeated Mexican troops commanded by General Mariano Arista at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, driving Arista's troops out of Texas.
• Taylor then led his troops into Mexico, where they defeated Mexican troops commanded by Pedro de Ampudia at the Battle of Monterrey.
• Defying orders, Taylor led his troops further south and, despite being severely outnumbered, dealt a crushing blow to Mexican forces under General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista.
• Taylor's troops were transferred to the command of Major General Winfield Scott, but Taylor retained his popularity.
• The Whig Party convinced a reluctant Taylor to lead its ticket in the 1848 presidential election, despite his unclear political tenets and lack of interest in politics.
• At the 1848 Whig National Convention, Taylor defeated Winfield Scott and former Senator Henry Clay for the party's nomination.
• He won the general election alongside New York politician Millard Fillmore, defeating Democratic Party nominees Lewis Cass and William Orlando Butler, as well as a third-party effort led by former president Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams Sr. of the Free Soil Party.
• Taylor became the first president to be elected without having previously held political office.
• As president, he kept his distance from Congress and his Cabinet, even though partisan tensions threatened to divide the Union.
• Debate over the status of slavery in the Mexican Cession dominated the national political agenda and led to threats of secession from Southerners.
• Despite being a Southerner and a slaveholder himself, Taylor did not push for the expansion of slavery, and sought sectional harmony above all other concerns.
• To avoid the issue of slavery, he urged settlers in New Mexico and California to bypass the territorial stage and draft constitutions for statehood, setting the stage for the Compromise of 1850.
• Taylor died suddenly of a stomach disease on July 9, 1850, with his administration having accomplished little aside from the ratification of the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and having made no progress on the most divisive issue in Congress and the nation: slavery. Vice President Fillmore assumed the presidency and served the remainder of his term.

Taylor was born into a prominent family of plantation owners who moved westward from Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky, in his youth. He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808 and rose through

• Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, in Orange County, Virginia.
• He was the third of five surviving sons of a prominent family of planters of English ancestry.
• He attended a school operated by Elisha Ayer, a teacher originally from Connecticut.
• He also attended a Middletown, Kentucky, academy run by Kean O'Hara, a classically trained scholar from Ireland and the father of Theodore O'Hara.
• Taylor's family forsook its exhausted Virginia land, joined the westward migration and settled near future Louisville, Kentucky, on the Ohio River.
• Taylor grew up in a small woodland cabin until, with increased prosperity, his family moved to a brick house.
• As a child, he lived in a battleground of the American Indian Wars, later claiming that he had seen Native Americans abduct and scalp his classmates while they were walking down the road together.
• Louisville's rapid growth was a boon for Taylor's father, who by the start of the 19th century had acquired 10,000 acres (40 km2) throughout Kentucky, as well as 26 slaves to cultivate the most developed portion of his holdings.
• Taylor's formal education was sporadic because Kentucky's education system was just taking shape during his formative years.
• In June 1810, Taylor married Margaret Mackall Smith.
• "Peggy" Smith came from a prominent family of Maryland planters—she was the daughter of Major Walter Smith, who had served in the Revolutionary War.
• The couple had six children: Zachary, Margaret, Walter, Martha, James, and Anna.
• Taylor was promoted to captain in November 1810.
• His army duties were limited at this time, and he attended to his personal finances.
• Over the next several years, he began to purchase land in the Ohio Valley.
• In 1813, he was promoted to major and assigned to lead a brigade in the War of 1812.
• In 1814, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and assigned to command a division in the war.
• In 1815, he was promoted to colonel and assigned to command the Second Division of the Missouri Territory.
• In 1816, he was promoted to brigadier general and assigned to command the Army of the West.
• Taylor participated in the Battle of the Thames and the Battle of the Wabash.
• He was appointed president of the United States in March 1849.

Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, in Orange County, Virginia to a prominent family of planters of English ancestry. He attended a school operated by Elisha Ayer, a teacher originally from Connecticut. He also attended a Middletown, Kentucky, academy run by Kean O'Hara, a classically trained scholar from Ireland and the father of Theodore O'Hara

• In 1811, James Taylor became the commandant of Fort Knox in Indiana Territory after the previous commandant fled.

• In 1812, Taylor defended Fort Harrison against an Indian attack commanded by Tecumseh.

• In 1814, Taylor was transferred to Baton Rouge and led an 430-man expedition to the upper Mississippi River.

• In 1819, Taylor was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and dined with President James Monroe and General Andrew Jackson.

• In 1820, Taylor took the 7th Infantry to Natchitoches, Louisiana, on the Red River.

• In 1822, Taylor established Fort Jesup at the Shield's Spring site southwest of Natchitoches.

• In 1824, Taylor was transferred to Washington, D.C., for work on an Army committee to consolidate and improve military organization.

• In 1826, Taylor acquired his first Louisiana plantation.

• In 1828, Taylor was called back to action, commanding Fort Snelling in Michigan Territory and then nearby Fort Crawford.

• In 1829, Taylor was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.

• In 1830, Taylor was transferred to Fort Armstrong in Illinois Territory.

• In 1832, Taylor was transferred to Fort Dearborn in Chicago, Illinois.

• In 1834, Taylor was transferred to Fort Armstrong in Missouri Territory.

• In 1835, Taylor was transferred to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas Territory.

• In 1836, Taylor was transferred to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory.

• In 1837, Taylor was transferred to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas Territory.

• In 1838, Taylor resigned from the army.

• In 1840, Taylor reentered the army and was promoted to the rank of major.

• In 1841, Taylor was transferred to Fort Snelling in Minnesota Territory.

• In 1842, Taylor was transferred to Fort Snelling in Minnesota Territory.

• In 1843, Taylor was transferred to Fort Armstrong in Illinois Territory.

• In 1844, Taylor was transferred to Fort Dearborn in Chicago, Illinois.

• In 1845, Taylor was transferred to Fort Armstrong in Missouri Territory.

• In 1846, Taylor was transferred to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory.

• In 1847, Taylor was transferred to Fort Snelling in Minnesota Territory.

• In 1848, Taylor resigned from the army again.

• In 1850, Taylor reentered the army and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

• In 1851, Taylor was transferred to Fort Snelling in Minnesota Territory.

• In 1852, Taylor was transferred to Fort Armstrong in Illinois Territory.

• In 1853, Taylor was transferred to Fort Dearborn in Chicago, Illinois.

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• Taylor was born in 1784 in Virginia

• He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1808 and fought in the War of 1812

• He served in the Black Hawk War and the Second Seminole War

• He was promoted to major general in 1837 and brigadier general in 1838

• In 1841, he was made commander of the Second Department of the Army's Western Division

• In 1844, he was sent to Texas to guard against attempts by Mexico to reclaim the territory

• In 1846, war appeared imminent and violence broke out

• Taylor defeated the Mexican "Army of the North" at the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, and the war ended in 1848

• In 1848, Taylor was made general in chief of the United States Army

• He retired from the army in 1853

Taylor was born in 1784 in Virginia. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1808 and fought in the War of 1812. He served in the Black Hawk War and the Second Seminole War. He was promoted to major general in 1837 and brigadier general in 1838. In 1841, he was made commander of the Second Department of the Army's Western Division. In 1844, he was sent to Texas to guard against attempts by Mexico to reclaim the territory. In 1846, war appeared imminent and violence broke out. Taylor defeated the Mexican "Army of the North" at the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, and the war ended in 1848. In 1848, Taylor was made general in chief of the United States Army. He retired from the army in 1853.