Zachary Taylor

Soldier of the Republic

Prof. Holman Hamilton

• Publisher: Papamoa Press
• Year: 2017
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781787204669
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

Until the publication of this first volume in 1941, Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), the 12th President of the United States, was strangely overlooked by modern-day biographers. Fortunately, journalist and newspaper editor Holman Hamilton has ably rectified this situation, and filled a large gap in the biographical record of American presidential history with this stirring account of the life and times of "Old Rough and Ready."
Zachary Taylor: Soldier of the Republic is the first volume of Hamilton's two-volume biography. It covers the entire span of Taylor's military career from his earliest service in Indian warfare on the fringe of the frontier, to his great triumphs on bloodstained Mexican battlefields.
Here is the story of 40 years of preparation for the brief period of glory in which Taylor was elevated to fame as 12th President of the United States: his presidency lasted a mere 16 months. Here too, for the first time, is the true romantic story of the courtship and marriage of Taylor's daughter and Jefferson Davis. All is set in a framework of American life on the advancing western frontier from 1820 to 1845.
In preparation for this work, Holman Hamilton undertook extensive research, exploring many untapped resources, including unpublished manuscripts, rare volumes of western travel, original newspaper accounts, and many obscure records from the archives of the Library of Congress and the War Department. He also researched many of the Taylor family's personal papers, letters and memories. Finally, in the true tradition of investigative journalism, Hamilton personally traveled Taylor's "trail," and visited every Taylor battleground—from Indiana to Florida, Wisconsin to Mexico—to give this biography an authenticity unmatched in detail or color.

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• DEDICATION
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHRONOLOGY
• CHAPTER I - VIRGINIA BIRTH; KENTUCKY GROWTH
• CHAPTER II - BAPTISM OF FIRE
• CHAPTER III - REDSKIN AND REDCOAT
• CHAPTER IV - THE YEARS OF PEACE
• CHAPTER V - GUARDING THE FRONTIER
• CHAPTER VI - THE BLACK HAWK WAR
• CHAPTER VII - SARAH KNOX TAYLOR AND JEFFERSON DAVIS
• CHAPTER VIII - LIFE AT FORT CRAWFORD
• CHAPTER IX - FLORIDA GLORY
• CHAPTER X - ARKANSAS INTERLUDE
• CHAPTER XI - STORM CLOUDS OVER MEXICO
• CHAPTER XII - ADVANCE TO THE RIO GRANDE
• CHAPTER XIII - PALO ALTO AND RESACA DE LA PALMA
• CHAPTER XIV - FROM MATAMOROS TO MONTEREY
• CHAPTER XV - “WE WERE NOT MANY”
• CHAPTER XVI - POLK AND SANTA ANNA
• CHAPTER XVII - THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA
• CHAPTER XVIII - A MILITARY APOTHEOSIS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• PERSONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• ADDITIONAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER