III.

Early Career

Taylor rose slowly through the ranks and, until the Mexican War, held a succession of minor commands, mostly on the frontier. In the War of 1812, between the United States and Britain, he successfully defended Fort Harrison in the Indiana Territory with only 50 men against an attack of 400 Native Americans led by Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. For this feat he received widespread publicity and was made a major. For most of the years between the War of 1812 and 1831, Taylor served at military posts in Wisconsin, Louisiana, and Minnesota. In 1832 he was promoted to colonel and sent to Fort Crawford (now Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin), where he commanded a detachment of 400 men in the Black Hawk War, a conflict with the Sac (Sauk) and Fox alliance of Native Americans.

In 1837 Taylor was sent to Florida to pacify the Seminole people. With a force of almost 1100 soldiers he pursued the Seminole from Fort Gardner into the Everglades. He finally caught up with them near Lake Okeechobee and defeated them in battle on December 25, 1837. He was then made a brigadier general and given command of the entire Florida district. It was during his service in Florida that his men nicknamed him Old Rough and Ready.

A.

Southern Planter

In 1840 Taylor was sent to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to command the Southwest Department. This position enabled him to purchase plantation land in Mississippi. Taylor had been a planter and slaveholder since his marriage, but his Cypress Grove plantation, an 810-hectare (2000-acre) tract on the Mississippi River above Natchez, then became his main interest. As the master of more than 100 slaves, Taylor was among the South's most prominent slaveholders. However, his attitude toward slaves and slavery was not typical. He believed that slavery was an economic necessity within the cotton-growing region, but he opposed its expansion to areas where cotton could not be cultivated. Moreover, unlike other large planters of his day, he made no claims that slavery and the plantation system represented a superior way of life.

B.

The Mexican War

In March 1845 the Congress of the United States passed a resolution to annex the Republic of Texas, which had seceded from Mexico, and James K. Polk became president. Both Texas and Mexico claimed the land between the Río Grande and the Nueces River. Polk's territorial ambitions exceeded this small disputed area; he also wanted the part of Mexico that is now New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California. When Mexico refused to sell the land, Polk prepared to win the territory by force.

In August 1845, Taylor was ordered to assume command of U.S. troops assembled at Fort Jesup, Louisiana, and to take them by sea to Corpus Christi, Texas, just south of the Nueces River in the disputed territory. Early in 1846, Taylor was ordered to advance to the Río Grande and to fight if attacked. Mexico considered Taylor's deployment on the Río Grande an act of invasion, and in May a 6000-man force under General Mariano Arista began crossing the Río Grande to drive him back. The Mexican War had begun.

Taylor's army consisted of 4000 men, both regular soldiers and militia. On May 8, 1846, Taylor's army met Arista's in the Battle of Palo Alto. Making brilliant use of his artillery, Taylor won a decisive victory. The next day the U.S. forces won another engagement, the Battle of Resaca de la Palma. Suffering heavy losses, the Mexican army fled back across the Río Grande into Mexico. When Polk got word of the victories, he promoted Taylor to major general. Congress awarded him two gold medals.

B.1.

Battle of Monterrey

In September 1846, Taylor began an invasion of northern Mexico. His army of 6000 consisted of regulars and volunteers. On September 21 he attacked the fortified city of Monterrey, which was defended by more than 7000 Mexicans under General Pedro de Ampudia. Taylor divided his army, giving Brigadier General William J. Worth the major assignment of attacking the city from the rear while Taylor diverted attention to the city's eastern gates. The strategy was successful, and on September 24 the Mexicans surrendered. Taylor's lenient terms enraged President Polk, but the activities of Whig Party politicians enraged him even more. They began maneuvering to make Taylor, who was nominally a Whig, the next president. Their task was not difficult. Taylor's victories made him a hero throughout the nation, and Rough and Ready clubs were springing up everywhere.

B.2.

Battle of Buena Vista

As a member of the Democratic Party, President Polk did not want to contribute to Taylor's growing popularity. Consequently, in 1847 he detached most of the regulars from Taylor's command and gave them to General Winfield Scott, who had orders to attack the Mexican coast at Veracruz and march inland to capture Mexico City.

This act left Taylor stranded in northern Mexico with only 5000 men. Learning of Taylor's weakness, the Mexican general Antonio López de Santa Anna decided to lead his army of about 15,000 troops against Taylor. He hoped that by defeating Taylor and advancing to the Río Grande, he would force Scott to abandon his invasion of Mexico. On February 23, 1847, Santa Anna's and Taylor's armies met at a hacienda called Buena Vista, just south of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The Americans were outnumbered three to one, but Taylor was one step ahead of the enemy. By constantly shifting his troops to meet each Mexican thrust, Taylor was able to hold his ground and claim victory when Santa Ana decided to retreat despite superior numbers. His losses were 267 killed, 456 wounded, and 23 missing. Santa Anna lost an estimated 2000 soldiers. The Battle of Buena Vista ended the war in northern Mexico. When Taylor returned to the United States in November 1847, he was the leading presidential candidate.

C.

Election of 1848

Taylor was a reluctant candidate. He had never voted in his life, and it was only after Whig politicians had created a popular groundswell of support for him that he demonstrated enthusiasm for the race.

Taylor's opponents for the Whig presidential nomination included U.S. Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky and General Scott. Clay was the most respected Whig leader, but he was old and had previously been defeated three times for the presidency. Scott's candidacy, despite his efforts, never got off the ground. Nevertheless, Taylor faced two obstacles. Northern Whigs opposed him because of his Southern and slaveholding background. Professional politicians opposed him because he had made statements implying that he considered himself above the party. Nevertheless, Taylor's great popularity with the people overcame all obstacles and he was nominated on the fourth ballot at the Whig national convention. Millard Fillmore, comptroller of New York, was chosen as his running mate.

As was the tradition at the time, Taylor did not campaign on his own, although he wrote many letters to friends and politicians. His platform was that he would be president of all the people, regardless of political party. His opponents were Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan, the Democratic candidate, and former president Martin Van Buren of New York, who represented the antislavery Free-Soil Party. In the election, Taylor won eight Southern states and seven Northern states, giving him 163 electoral votes to Cass's 127. Taylor did not win a majority of the popular votes. He had 1,360,099, compared to 1,220,544 for Cass and 291,263 for Van Buren. However, because Van Buren took Democratic votes away from Cass in New York, all of that state's 36 electoral votes went to Taylor, who thereby won the election.