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Carolinas, 1780–1782.University, Ala: University ofAlabama Press, 1985; Scotti, Anthony J. “Brutal
Virtue: The Myth and the Reality of Banastre Tarle-
ton.” Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of
South Carolina, 1996; Tarleton, Banastre. A History of
the Campaign of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern
Provinces of North America.London: F. Cadell, 1900.TAYLOR, RICHARD
Taylor, Richard
(January 27, 1826–April 12, 1879)
Confederate General
A
lthough devoid of military training,
Taylor was an excellent leader and
among a handful of men to become a
Confederate lieutenant general. His most
memorable service occurred in 1864 when he
completely stopped the Union’s Red River Ex-
pedition in Louisiana. He was also the last
Confederate commander to surrender in the
eastern theater.
Richard Taylor was born near Louisville,
Kentucky, the son of Zachary Taylor, army of-
ficer and future president of the United
States. He did not accompany his father
while stationed along remote frontier posts
but rather attended private schools in Ken-
tucky and Massachusetts. He graduated from
Yale College in 1843, having exhibited a pas-
sion for studying classical military history.
When the Mexican War commenced in 1846,
Taylor joined his father in Texas and was
present at the opening Battles of Palo Alto
and Reseca de la Palma. He declined to join
the military, however, so his father allowed
him to manage the family cotton plantation in
Jefferson County, Mississippi. During his
tenure there he became a brother-in-law of
Jefferson Davis, himself a future presi-
dent—of sorts. After his father gained the
White House in 1850, Taylor convinced him
to purchase Fashion, a large sugar plantation
in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. He then set-
tled down into married life, became involved
in politics, and was a familiar figure in the
aristocratic circles of New Orleans. Although
a staunch Democrat, Taylor was distinctly
moderate on the issue of slavery, and he op-
posed the radical secessionist wing of his
party. He was instrumental in trying to
arrange a compromise between the two fac-
tions at the 1860 Democratic convention at
Charleston, South Carolina. At that point Tay-
lor concluded that secession was inevitable,
and in January 1861 he voted along with the
majority of the Louisiana secession conven-
tion to join the Confederacy.
After the Civil War commenced in April
1861, Taylor was elected colonel of the Ninth
Louisiana Infantry, and he arrived in Virginia
too late to see fighting at First Bull Run.
However, in October his brother-in-law, Jeff
Davis, now president of the Confederate
States of America, arranged his promotion to
brigadier general. This move, seen by many
as outright nepotism, caused resentment
among other hopefuls, but Taylor moved eas-
ily into the new role. As a leader he could—
and did—draw upon years of studying mili-
tary history, strategy, and tactics to assist
him in the field. By the spring of 1862 Taylor
formed part of Gen. Thomas J. “Stone-
wall” Jackson’s corps, and he fought with
distinction through the famous Shenandoah
campaign. At Front Royal, Winchester, and
Port Republic, Taylor’s brigade formed an