He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.

One of three individuals to be promoted to Lt. General without formal military training. The other two were Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest, and Lt. General Wade Hampton.

Promotions:

Colonel - July ??, 1861

Brigadier General - October 21, 1861

Major General - July 28, 1862

Lieutenant General - April 8, 1865

Major Commands:

District of West Louisiana

Department of Alabama and Mississippi

Most of Taylor's contemporaries, subordinates, and fellow generals make mention many times of his military prowess. Nathan Bedford Forrest commented that "He's the biggest man in the lot. If we'd had more like him, we would have licked the Yankees long ago." "Dick Taylor was a born soldier", asserted a close friend. "Probably no civilian of his time was more deeply versed in the annals of war." Stonewall Jackson and Richard S. Ewell frequently commented on their conversations with Taylor. Ewell stated that he came away from his conversations with Taylor more knowledgeable and impressed with the amount of information Taylor possessed.

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After Gens. Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston had surrendered, Taylor realized that further resistance in his department would lead only to its destruction, he surrendered to Major Gen. E.R.S. Canby on May 4 at Citronelle, Alabama. It was the last major surrender east of the Mississippi River. His men were paroled 4 days later. He had proved himself an able and courageous leader against superior forces. WGA

He visited England after the war and was given much attention. He moved to New Orleans, married and had three daughters.

After the war, Taylor returned to New Orleans penniless. He became an effective advocate of Southern rights during the Reconstruction period. He wrote his memoirs, "Destruction and Reconstruction" in 1879. It was published a week before his death.

WGA

After surrendering his department to Canby on May 4, 1865, Taylor took up residency in New Orleans and tried to revive his finances by securing a lease of the New Basin Canal from the state. He also garnered the support of a wealthy New York City attorney, Samuel Latham Mitchell Barlow, one of the Democratic party's most effective powerbrokers. At Barlow's bidding Taylor negotiated with presidents Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant and also lobbied members of Congress, all in an attempt to advance democratic principles, mainly by gaining lenient treatment for the South. Increasingly distrustful of Radical Republicans, Taylor finally cursed Reconstructionqv as a loathsome evil, with Johnson as its inept victim and Grant as its corrupt handmaiden. The continual racial and political strife, much of which Taylor witnessed personally in New Orleans, gradually pushed him along with many other genteel conservatives into a reactionary position that lent tacit approval to the corrupt, blatantly violent backlash by Southern white Democrats against freedmens' efforts to assert their new voting rights under Republican sponsorship. Shortly after his wife's death in 1875, Taylor moved with his three daughters to Winchester, Virginia. Intimately involved in New Yorker Samuel J. Tilden's Democratic presidential campaign in 1876, Taylor vainly attempted to influence congressional maneuverings in the wake of the disputed election returns, a national crisis ultimately diffused by the pervasive breakdown of solidarity among Democratic leaders. WGA

-------------------- Richard Taylor (January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.

-------------------- Confederate general in the American Civil War. -------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Taylor_(general)

Richard Taylor (January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. He was the son of United States President Zachary Taylor and First Lady Margaret Taylor.

Richard Taylor January 27, 1826 – April 12, 1879 (aged 53)

Richard Taylor Place of birth present-day St. Matthews, Kentucky Place of death New York City, New York Place of burial Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans Allegiance United States of America

Confederate States of America Service/branch Confederate States Army Rank Lieutenant General

Battles/wars American Civil War:

First Battle of Bull Run Shenandoah Valley Campaign Seven Days Battles Red River Campaign Battle of Mansfield Battle of Pleasant Hill

Other work Louisiana state senate (1855-1861)

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Richard Taylor was a brother-in-law of Jefferson Davis and also a son of President Zachary Taylor. He owned a large sugar plantation and was a Louisiana senator - first as a Whig, then a Know-Nothing, and then a Democrat. At first the Senator hoped to avoid secession. Eventually, however, Taylor felt that secession was inevitable and served as a delegate to the Louisiana secession convention. Related Battles

In 1861, Taylor helped Braxton Bragg train soldiers at Pensacola, Florida. He was then elected Colonel of the 9th Louisiana Infantry which fought at Bull Run. In October 1861, he was appointed Brigadier General of the Eighth Brigade (Louisiana soldiers) under Richard Ewell. One of the regiments was the famed “Wheat’s Tigers” - known for hard fighting as well as rough living.

Taylor was skilled at leading his men at Front Royal, First Winchester and Port Republic (in the Shenandoah Valley). The Louisianans then fought in the Seven Days’ Battles. Unfortunately, Taylor suffered from serious rheumatoid arthritis. This left him incapacitated at times.

Promoted to Major General, Taylor was sent to command the district of West Louisiana. Northern activities had left that region crippled; Taylor’s job was to organize forces to defend the state. Union goals at the time included establishing control of Louisiana in order to maintain a presence in Texas. Shreveport was their target. After an unsuccessful attempt to recapture New Orleans, Taylor embarrassed US General Nathaniel Banks during the 1864 Red River Campaign. Banks suffered defeat at Mansfield (April 8) and Pleasant Hill (April 9) forcing Banks to abandon his plans to take Shreveport.

Because of disagreements with his superior officer, Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, Taylor asked to be relieved of command. Instead, he was promoted to Lieutenant General and sent to defend Mobile and Selma, Alabama. Before long Taylor was given command of John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee. On May 8, 1865, He was forced to surrender his army to US General Edward Canby. This was the last major force to surrender east of the Mississippi. Taylor was paroled on May 13, 1865.

After the war, Taylor was vocal in his opposition to northern Reconstruction. He published a memoir entitled Destruction and Reconstruction in 1879, shortly before his death in New York City. Taylor was buried in New Orleans.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mysouthernfamily/myff/d0034/g0000043.html#I4261

After the war, Richard Taylor persuaded his friend Joseph L. Brent to stay in Louisiana. Brent married Rosella, the daughter of Duncan Kenner and Nanine Bringier.

Myrthe, the fifth daughter, m. Gen. Dick, TAYLOR, of Fashion plantation, President TAYLOR'S only son, and was survived by three daughters, two of whom intermarried with the STAUFFER family of New Orleans