William Wallace Smith Bliss

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William Wallace Smith Bliss
Daguerreotype by unknown photographer, circa 1848
Private Secretary to the President
In office March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850
President	Zachary Taylor
Preceded by	Joseph Knox Walker
Succeeded by	Millard Powers Fillmore
Personal details
Born	(1815-08-17)August 17, 1815 Whitehall, New York
Died	August 5, 1853(1853-08-05) (aged 37) Pascagoula, Mississippi

William Wallace Smith Bliss (August 17, 1815 – August 5, 1853) was a United States Army officer and mathematics professor. A gifted mathematician, he taught at West Point and also served as a line officer.

In December 1848 Bliss married Mary Elizabeth Taylor, youngest daughter of President-elect Zachary Taylor, whom he would serve as presidential secretary. Five years later Bliss contracted yellow fever in New Orleans and died at the age of 37.

Having become interested in the various Native American tribes, Bliss learned a number of their languages and studied their cultures. He was a member of the

At the age of 14, Bliss entered the United States Military Academy on September 1, 1829. He showed very great skills in mathematics while a student. He graduated July 1, 1833 (age 17) and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 4th Infantry Regiment. It was his choice to serve in the infantry.

He served in the

In 1845, Bliss took part in the United States military occupation of the Republic of Texas, prior to its annexation. Between April 1846 and November 1847, he took part in the Mexican War, including fighting in the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma and Buena Vista. He was brevetted to major in May 1846, and brevetted to lieutenant colonel in February 1847 for gallant and meritorious service.^[1]

During his entire service in

On December 5, 1848, at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Bliss married President-elect Zachary Taylor's youngest daughter, Mary Elizabeth (1824–1909).

Political career

Taylor appointed Bliss as Private Secretary to the President (he was able to take leave from the Army for this assignment).

As the President's wife took no part in formal social events, she delegated the social role to their daughter Mary Elizabeth Bliss, who effectively became the First Lady of the White House at the age of 22. The popular young couple seemed destined to become powerful figures in Washington.

The president died suddenly in July 1850. Bliss and his wife Mary accompanied her widowed mother to Pascagoula, Mississippi. She died there in 1852, at the home of another daughter.

Bliss was assigned as Adjutant-General of the Western Division of the Army. Following a summer visit to New Orleans on behalf of University of Louisiana, Bliss contracted yellow fever. He died at Pascagoula on August 5, 1853, aged 37. He was buried at Girod Street Cemetery (defunct), New Orleans. A century later, his remains were moved to Fort Bliss National Cemetery in Texas.

Legacy and honors

• 1849 the
  State of New York presented him with a Gold Medal for his bravery in the Mexican–American War, at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterrey, and Buena Vista
  .
• March 8, 1854, the Post of El Paso was renamed in his honor as Fort Bliss.
• A twenty-foot memorial, made of Italian marble, was erected in his honor in the Girod Street Cemetery, New Orleans. It noted he was "a finished scholar, an accomplished gentleman and a gallant soldier." In 1955, the cemetery was condemned for new construction in the Central Business District. When his remains were removed to the Fort Bliss National Cemetery, the monument was also moved and became the center piece of LTC William W. S. Bliss Parade Field, near Hinman Hall in Fort Bliss.^[3]

References

• Carl Sferrazza, America's First Families: An Inside View of 200 Years of Private Life in the White House, Lisa Drew Books

External links

• The Bliss Family History Society
• Fort Bliss National Cemetery
• Hamilton, John (August 21, 2013). "The first Fort Bliss: The post opposite El Paso". Fort Bliss Bugle.
• My Southern Family, Rootsweb
• Military biography of William Bliss,
  from the Cullum biographies