TAYLOR 



5718 



TAYLOR 



of captain, and about the same time was mar- 

 ried to Miss Margaret Smith, the daughter of 

 a Maryland planter. 



In June, 1812, war was declared against Eng- 

 land. This action made it almost certain that 

 the Indians allied with the British would begin 

 raids. One of the points of attack would be 

 Vincennes, on the Wabash River. To protect 

 Vincennes from a surprise attack, Captain Tay- 

 lor with his company of fifty men was ordered 

 to Fort Harrison, a stockade on the river above 

 Vincennes. Here the little force was attacked 

 by a large band of Indians, led by Tecumseh; 

 it was beaten off so effectively that for months 

 afterward no Indians could be found in this 

 section. For the defense of the fort Captain 

 Taylor received the brevet rank of major, 

 which was later confirmed by commission. 

 Major Taylor was in active service against the 

 Indians in the Wabash and Rock River valleys 

 until the close of the war. 



Indian Campaigns. At the close of hostilities, 

 because of changes in the army organization, 

 Taylor was reduced to the rank of captain. 

 Regarding this as an injustice, he resigned his 

 commission and returned home. Some influ- 

 ence, not stimulated by himself, secured his 

 restoration to the rank of major. As lieuten- 

 ant-colonel he later commanded at Fort Snell- 

 ing, then the border post of the Northwest, 

 and as colonel was in charge of Fort Crawford, 

 at Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin) when the 

 Black Hawk War began. Colonel Taylor 

 served through the campaign, and himself re- 

 ceived the surrender of Black Hawk. Four 

 years later, in 1836, he was sent to hold a com- 

 mand in Florida, and in 1837 defeated the 

 Seminole Indians in the decisive Battle of Oke- 

 chobee, a victory for which he received the 

 brevet rank of brigadier-general. In 1838 he 

 assumed chief command in Florida, and in 1840 

 was assigned to command the southern division 

 of the western department of the United States 

 army. 



In the Mexican War. As the commander in 

 this division, he was naturally given the task 

 in 1845 of defending Texas from the threatened 

 invasion by the Mexicans. Texas had entered 

 the Union, so it said, with the Rio Grande as 

 its boundary; it asked protection for this fron- 

 tier, and General Taylor was to advance to 

 that river. Collecting a force of about 4,000 

 men, both regulars and volunteers, at Corpus 

 Christi, he advanced to the Rio Grande, and 

 halted on its bank, opposite Matamoras. There 

 the Americans built Fort Brown. General Am- 



pudia, the Mexican commander, demanded that 

 the Americans retire beyond the Nueces River, 

 which they claimed as a boundary. Taylor 

 promptly refused. In order to obtain more 

 supplies, Taylor took half of his force to Point 

 Isabel, his base, thirty miles away. On the 

 second day of the return trip a force of 6,000 

 Mexicans opposed the further progress of his 

 troops. Most of the officers were in favor of 

 falling back to Point Isabel, to await reenforce- 

 ments, but Taylor, after listening to the argu- 

 ments, said: "I shall go to Fort Brown or stay 

 in my shoes," a Western expression equiva- 

 lent to "die with my boots on." Although out- 



ZACHARY TAYLOR 



One of those numerous Americans who were 

 made national heroes by war and afterwards 

 raised to high civil office. 



numbered three to one, the Americans attacked 

 early on the morning of May 8, 1845, and in the 

 battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma 

 routed the Mexicans, who fled across the Rio 

 Grande and left open the way to Fort Brown. 

 On May 18 General Taylor's force occupied 

 Matamoras. 



In the meantime, on May 13, war had been 

 formally declared. General Taylor then pre- 

 pared to advance into Mexico, as the Rio 

 Grande was an unsatisfactory strategic bound- 

 ary. With 6,625 men he marched against Mon- 

 terey, which surrendered on September 24 after 

 a three days' bombardment. By the terms of 

 surrender the Mexicans agreed to retire behind 

 a certain line, and the American troops agreed 

 not to advance beyond it for eight weeks. This 

 armistice was not approved by the United 

 States government. Assuming, therefore, that 



