Richard Taylor (Confederate general)
Richard "Dick" Taylor (January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879) was an American planter, politician, military historian, and
. After the war and Reconstruction, Taylor published a memoir about his experiences.Early years
Richard Taylor was born in 1826 at
After starting college studies at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Taylor completed them at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where he graduated in 1845. He was a member of Skull and Bones, Yale's social club.[1] He received no academic honors, as he spent most of his time reading classical and military history books.
At the beginning of the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), Taylor visited his father in the Mexican town of Matamoros in July 1846. Reportedly he volunteered to serve as his father's aide-de-camp.[2]
Having to leave the war because of
On February 10, 1851, Richard Taylor married Louise Marie Myrthe Bringier (d. 1875), a native of
In 1855, Taylor entered local politics. He was elected to the Louisiana State Senate, where he served until 1861. First affiliated with the Whig Party, he shifted to the American (Know Nothing) Party and finally joined the Democratic Party. He was sent to the first Democratic Convention of 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina, as a state delegate. There he witnessed the splintering of the Democrats. While in Charleston, he tried to devise a compromise between the two Democratic factions, but his attempts failed.
American Civil War
When the
. 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.While training recruits, Taylor received news that he was commissioned as a colonel of the
On October 21, 1861, Taylor was promoted to
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 and its hard living outside. Taylor instilled discipline into the Tigers, and although Major Wheat did not agree with his methods, he came to respect Taylor.
Taylor subsequently traveled with the rest of Jackson's command to participate in the
Taylor was promoted to the rank of
The historian John D. Winters wrote that Taylor was:
to command all troops south of the Red River and was to prevent the enemy from using the rivers and bayous in the area. Troops were to be gathered and sent to fill up the ranks of Louisiana regiments serving in Virginia. After this, Taylor was to retain as many recruits as would be needed in the state. Light batteries of artillery were to be organized to harass passing enemy vessels on the streams. ... The enemy was to be confined to as narrow an area as possible, and communications and transportation across the Mississippi River were to be kept open.[4]
After working as a recruiting officer, Taylor commanded the tiny District of West Louisiana. Governor Thomas Overton Moore had insistently requested a capable and dedicated officer to assemble the state's forces to counter U.S. advances.
Before Taylor returned to Louisiana, U.S. forces in the area had raided throughout much of southern Louisiana. During the spring of 1862, U.S. soldiers came upon Taylor's Fashion plantation and plundered it.
Taylor found the district almost entirely devoid of troops and supplies. However, he did the best with these limited resources by securing two capable subordinates, veteran infantry commander Alfred Mouton, and veteran cavalry commander Thomas Green. These two commanders would prove crucial to Taylor's upcoming campaigns in the state.
During 1863, Taylor directed an effective series of clashes with U.S. Army forces over control of lower Louisiana, most notably at Battle of Fort Bisland and the Battle of Irish Bend. These clashes were fought against U.S. Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks for control of the Bayou Teche region in southern Louisiana and his ultimate objective of Port Hudson. After Banks had successfully pushed Taylor's Army of Western Louisiana aside, Banks continued on his way to Alexandria, Louisiana, before returning south to besiege Port Hudson. After these battles, Taylor formulated a plan to recapture Bayou Teche, along with the city of New Orleans, and to halt the Siege of Port Hudson.
Operations to recapture New Orleans
Taylor planned to move down the
In response to the Confederates summarily executing black U.S. soldiers, U.S. Army General Ulysses S. Grant wrote a letter to Taylor, urging the Confederates to treat captured black U.S. soldiers humanely and professionally and not murder them. Grant stated the official position of the U.S. government was that black U.S. soldiers were sworn military men and not insurrectionist slaves, as the Confederates asserted they were.[5] After the battles, Taylor marched his army, minus Walker's division, down to the Bayou Teche region. From there, Taylor captured Brashear City (Morgan City, Louisiana), which yielded tremendous amounts of supplies, materiel, and new weapons for his army. He moved within the outskirts of New Orleans, which was being held by a few green recruits under Brig. Gen. William H. Emory. While Taylor was encamped on the outskirts and preparing for his attack against the city, he learned that Port Hudson had fallen. He retreated his forces up Bayou Teche to avoid the risk of being captured.
Red River Campaign
In 1864, Taylor defeated U.S. General Nathaniel P. Banks in the
Last days of the war
Taylor was given command of the
Military prowess
Taylor did not have any military experience until the Civil War broke out.[8] However, most of Taylor's contemporaries, subordinates, and superiors spoke many times of his military prowess as he proved himself capable both in the field and in departmental command. Nathan Bedford Forrest commented about Taylor, "He's the biggest man in the lot. If we'd had more like him, we would have licked the Yankees long ago."[9] Charles Erasmus Fenner, an officer in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department and post-war Louisiana Supreme Court justice, asserted that "Dick Taylor was a born soldier. Probably no civilian of his time was more deeply versed in the annals of war, including the achievements and personal characteristics of all the great captains, the details and philosophies of their campaigns, and their strategic theories and practice."[10]: 125
Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson and Richard S. Ewell frequently commented on their conversations with Taylor about military history, strategy, and tactics. In particular, Ewell stated that he came away from his conversations with Taylor more knowledgeable and impressed with the information Taylor possessed. Stonewall Jackson recommended promoting Taylor to major general and putting him in command of Confederate forces in western Louisiana.[11] Taylor was one of only three lieutenant generals in the Confederacy who did not graduate from West Point (the others being Forrest and Wade Hampton III).[10]
In his 1879 memoir, Taylor modestly attributed his progress as a commanding officer during the war to two habits:
I early adopted two customs, and adhered to them throughout the war. The first was to examine at every halt the adjacent roads and paths, their direction and condition; distances of nearest towns and cross-roads; the country, its capacity to furnish supplies, as well as general topography, etc., all of which was embodied in a rude sketch, with notes to impress it on memory. The second was to imagine while on the march an enemy before me to be attacked, or to be received in my position, and make the necessary dispositions for either contingency. My imaginary manoeuvres were sad blunders, but I corrected them by experience drawn from actual battles, and can safely affirm that such slight success as I had in command was due to these customs.[12]
Postwar life
The war destroyed Taylor's home, including his much-prized library, sugar cane property, and facilities. He moved his family to New Orleans at the war's end and lived there until his wife died in 1875. He was president of the Boston Club 1868–1873. After his wife's death, he moved with their three daughters to Winchester, Virginia. From there, he regularly traveled to see friends and colleagues in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Taylor wrote a memoir, Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War (1879), considered one of the most creditable accounts of the Civil War.[13] The historian T. Michael Parrish wrote that, "Taylor finally gave enhanced dignity to defeat and surrender."[10]: 501
Taylor continued to be active in Democratic Party politics. He interceded with President
Family
Richard Taylor was the only son of
Richard and Marie (née Bringier) Taylor had five children, two sons and three daughters: Louise, Elizabeth, Zachary, Richard, and Myrthe. Their two sons died of scarlet fever during the war, losses that affected both parents deeply.[citation needed]
Legacy
- 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.[14]
- Jackson B. Davis, a former state senator from Shreveport, wrote a biographical article about Taylor that was published in 1941.[15]
- A full-length biography, T. Michael Parrish's, Richard Taylor, Soldier Prince of Dixie, was published in 1992.[10]
Works
- Taylor, Richard. Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War. J.S. Sanders & Co., 2001 [1879]. ISBN 1-879941-21-X. First published in 1879 by D. Appleton.
- Works by Richard Taylor at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Richard Taylor at Internet Archive
See also
Notes
- Yale Banneris 1969."
- ^ Hughes, Nathaniel C. Yale's Confederates: A Biographical Dictionary. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2008, p. 205-206.
- ^ T. Michael Parrish. Taylor, Richard, American National Biography Online, February 2000. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
- ^ Winters, John D. The Civil War in Louisiana. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, p. 152.
- ^ Grant, Ulysses (1863). "Letter to Richard Taylor". Vicksburg.
I feel no inclination to retaliate for the offences of irresponsible persons; but if it is the policy of any General intrusted with the command of troops to show no quarter, or to punish with death prisoners taken in battle, I will accept the issue. It may be you propose a different line of policy towards black troops, and officers commanding them, to that practiced towards white troops. So, I can assure you that these colored troops are regularly mustered into the service of the United States. The Government, and all officers under the Government, are bound to give the same protection to these troops that they do to any other troops.
- ^ Journal of the Congress of the Confederate States of America, 7 vols. Washington, D. C., 1904-1905, Volume IV, p. 49.
- ^ a b Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher. Civil War High Commands. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001, p. 523.
- ^ Terry L. Jones. Gen. Taylor said a 'born soldier': Led Southern resistance in South Louisiana
- ^ Dufour, Charles L. Nine Men in Gray. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Parrish, T. M. Richard Taylor, Soldier Prince of Dixie. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.
- ^ Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr. General Richard Taylor as a military Commander, Louisiana History, Volume XXIII, No. 1, Winter 1982, pp. 35-47.
- ^ Taylor, Richard. Destruction and Reconstruction: Personal Experiences of the Late War. J.S. Sanders & Co., 2001. pp. 41-42.
- ^ "General Richard Taylor, CSA", Historycentral.com
- ^ The Louisiana Tiger (Monthly Newsletter of the Lt Gen. Richard Taylor Camp #1308), Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2016.
- ^ Davis, Jackson Beauregard. "The Life of Richard Taylor", Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Volume 24 (January 1941), pp. 49-126.
References
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
- Parrish, T. Michael. Richard Taylor, Soldier Prince of Dixie. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992. ISBN 978-0-8078-2032-2.
- Prushankin, Jeffery S. A Crisis in Confederate Command: Edmund Kirby Smith, Richard Taylor and the Army of the Trans-Mississippi. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8071-3088-5.
- Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
- ISBN 978-0-8071-0834-5.
External links
- Richard Taylor in the Handbook of Texas Online
- Richard Taylor at Find a Grave