Richard Taylor (general)

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Richard Taylor (general) bigraphy, stories - Confederate Army general

Richard Taylor (general) : biography

January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879

Richard Taylor (January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879) was an American plantation owner, politician, military historian and Confederate general during the American Civil War. He was the son of Zachary Taylor, a general in the United States Army and later President of the United States, and his wife Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor.

Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Taylor joined the Confederate States Army, serving first as a brigade commander in Virginia, and later as an army commander in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.

Honors

The Lt. General Richard Taylor Camp #1308, Sons of Confederate Veterans in Shreveport, Louisiana, is named for General Taylor. The camp was chartered in 1971.

Postbellum life

After the war, Richard Taylor wrote his memoirs, Destruction and Reconstruction, which is one of the most credited reports of the Civil War. The memoir was published a week prior to his death in New York City in April of 1979. He was active in Democratic Party politics, interceded on behalf of Jefferson Davis with President Andrew Johnson, and was a leading political opponent of Northern Reconstruction policies. He died in New York City and is buried in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans.

Most of Taylor’s contemporaries, subordinates, and fellow generals make mention many times of his military prowess. Nathan Bedford Forrest commented that "He’s the biggest man in the lot. If we’d had more like him, we would have licked the Yankees long ago." "Dick Taylor was a born soldier", asserted a close friend. "Probably no civilian of his time was more deeply versed in the annals of war." Stonewall Jackson and Richard S. Ewell frequently commented on their conversations with Taylor. Ewell stated that he came away from his conversations with Taylor more knowledgeable and impressed with the amount of information Taylor possessed.

Civil War

When the Civil War erupted, Taylor was asked by Confederate General Braxton Bragg to assist him, as a civilian, at Pensacola, Florida. Bragg had known Taylor from before the war, and thought his knowledge of military history could help him to organize and train the Confederate forces. Taylor had been opposed to secession, but accepted the appointment. Confederate President Jefferson Davis would later comment that the soldiers being sent from Pensacola were some of the best trained soldiers in the Confederacy.

While serving there, Taylor was commissioned as a colonel of the 9th Louisiana Infantry, and served at the First Battle of Bull Run. The members of the 9th Louisiana voted for Taylor because they thought that with Taylor’s connections to President Davis, widower of his late sister Sarah, the unit would be sent out sooner and see battle more quickly.

On October 21, 1861, Taylor was promoted to brigadier general. He commanded a Louisiana brigade under Richard S. Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley campaign and during the Seven Days. when Taylor was promoted over three more senior regimental commanders, they complained of favoritism. Davis noted Taylor’s leadership capabilities and promise, and said that he had been recommended by General Stonewall Jackson. During the Valley Campaign, Jackson used Taylor’s brigade as an elite strike force that set a rapid marching pace and dealt swift flanking attacks. At the Battle of Front Royal on May 23, the First Battle of Winchester on May 25, and finally at the climactic Battle of Port Republic on June 9, Taylor led the 9th Infantry in timely assaults against strong enemy positions. Afterward, he traveled with the rest of Jackson’s command to the Peninsula Campaign.

His brigade consisted of various Louisiana regiments, as well as Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat’s "Louisiana Tiger" battalion. The undisciplined lot was known for its hard fighting on the battlefield, but also for its hard living outside. Taylor instilled discipline into the Tigers and, although Major Wheat did not agree with his methods, Taylor won his respect.