Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/129

 TAYLOR

TAZE^VELL

which action he was severely criticised by Sec- retary Marcy. The combat at San Pasqual occur- red December 6, and the skirmish at San Barnar- dino, Dec. 7, 1846. When the government had sent General Scott to capture the Mexican capital by the Vera Cruz route General Taylor was sub- ject to his orders and his campaign by way of Saltillo across the plains, which he had proposed to the government at Washington, was practically closed, as he could not depend on any support should the exigencies of the campaign demand his troops at Vera Cruz. Taylor was ordered to Vic- toria, where he turned over his troops, save only an escort, to General Scott, to take part in the siege of Vera Cruz, and he returned to Monterey by way of Agua Nueva, beyond Saltillo. He was joined by General Wool, who had marched his forces from Chihuahua, and on February 23-24, they fought the battle of Buena Vista with 4550 men against Santa Anna's army, 22,000 strong. At the battle of Buena Vista, when on the second day he was urged not to continue the fight against such fearful odds, he said, " My wounded are be- hind me, I will never pass them alive.'' He effectively defeated the Mexican general, restored peace in the valley of the Rio Grande, and deci- mated the army of Santa Anna, which reached the defences of the city of Mexico, a small force of dis- heartened soldiers. This battle closed his career as a soldier, and he returned home in November, 1847. He received three medals from congress, and three swords from state legislatures. "Old Rough and Ready " was now the national hero, and was at once taken up by the Whig party as an available candidate for the Presidency, his prestige as a soldier being used as a foil to the popularity won by the administration of Polk in the successful termination of the war with Mexico. The Native American party that met in national convention in Philadelphia, September, 1847, had offered him the nomination for Presi- dent but put no candidate in the field. The Democratic party met in Baltimore, May 22, 1848, and nominated Gen. Lewis Cass of Michigan for President, and AVilliam O. Butler of Kentucky for Vice-President, and the Whig national con- vention met at Philadelphia, June 7, 1848, and on the fourth ballot nominated Gen. Zachary Taylor of Louisiana for President and Millard Fill- more of New York was nominated for Vice-Presi- dent. In the election that followed in November, the Taylor and Fillmore electors received 1,360,- 101 popular votes ; the Cass and Butler electors 1,220,544, and the Van Buren and Adams Free- soil ticket, 291,262. The electoral college that met in 1849 gave to Taylor and Fillmore 163 votes, and 127 to Cass and Butler. On March 4, 1849, General Taylor was Inaugurated, and he called to his cabinet John M. Clayton of Delaware as

secretary of state ; William M. Meredith of Penn- sylvania as secretary of the treasury ; George W. Crawford of Georgia as secretary of war; Thomas Ewing of Ohio as secretary of the in- terior ; William B. Preston of Virginia as secre- tary of the navy ; Jacob Collamer of Vermont, as postmaster-general, and Reverdy Johnson of Maryland as attorney-general. He sent Abbott Lawrence of Massachusetts as minister to Great Britain ; William C. Rives of Virginia as minister to France ; J. Watson Webb of New York as charge d'affaires to Austria, and Daniel M. Bar- ringer of North Carolina, as minister to Spain. In his message to congress he recommended the admission of California to the union, but did not favor the admission of either Utah or New ^Mexico. On July 4, 1850, he attended the ceremonies of laying the corner stone of the Washington monu- ment, and the heat of the day, large draughts of cold water, eating of fruits and drinking of iced milk to allay a troublesome thirst, brought upon him cholera morbus, which, not yielding to medical treatment, caused his death in the pres- ence of his wife, his daughter Elizabeth and her husband. Colonel Bliss, his brother, Colonel Tay- lor, and family, and Jefferson Davis and family, Vice-President Fillmore and his cabinet. The biographies of General Taylor are inadequate, that by Gen. O. O. Howard in " Great Com- mander" series (1892) being the most satisfac- tory. His name in Class N, Soldiers and Sailors, received nine votes for a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, October, 1900, and was twelfth in the class of twenty names presented for consideration. He died at theWhite House, Washington, July 9, 1850. TAZEWELL, Henry, senator, was born in Brunswick county, Va. His grandfather, William Tazewell, came to America from Somersetshire, England, in 1715. His parents died during his childhood, and Henry was graduated at William and Mary college ; studied law, and practised in Virginia after 1773. He was a member of the house of burgesses, 1775 ; was judge of the state su- preme court, 1785-93 ; of the high court of ap- peals, 1793-94, and was elected U.S. senator in 1794, to complete the term of John Taylor, re- signed, his term to expire March 3, 1799. Sen- ator Tazewell was elected president pro tempore of the U.S. senate, Feb. 23, 1795, and did not live to complete the term of John Taylor, for which he was elected. He died in Philadelphia, Pa.. Jan. 24. 1799.

TAZEWELL, Littleton Waller, governor of Virginia, was born in Williamsburg, Va., Dec. 17, 1774 ; son of Senator Henry Tazewell (q.v.). He was graduated from William and ^lary col- lege in 1791, and began the practice of law in James City county, in 1796. He was a member