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THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
TAYLOR, Zachary (1784-1850). President. Autograph letter signed ("Z Taylor") to Robert C. Wood, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 14 October 1843. 3½ pages, 4to, minor holes along folds, otherwise fine.
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TAYLOR, Zachary (1784-1850). President. Autograph letter signed ("Z Taylor") to Robert C. Wood, Fort Smith, Arkansas, 14 October 1843. 3½ pages, 4to, minor holes along folds, otherwise fine.
TAYLOR'S ASSESSMENT OF THE ABOLITIONISTS: "I VIEW THEM IN THE SAME LIGHT I DO PIRATES OR HIGHWAY ROBBERS"
An intriguing letter of the future president from his post on the Arkansas frontier, to his son-in-law, military surgeon Robert Crooke Wood. Taylor, who began his military career in 1808 as a First Lieutenant, served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War before being breveted a Brigadier General in 1838 during the Seminole War. On May 1 1841, he received command of the Second Military Department of the West with headquarters at Fort Smith.
Taylor commences with a discussion of family matters and a visit by his daughter Ann which, considering her current state of health "will prove greatly beneficial to her." He passes on news including changes in command in various military posts, a new bill concerning transportation costs which was induced, according to Taylor, by travel expenses of Generals Scott and Wool, and the prevalence of court martials (he notes that President Tyler has been lenient with pardons).
Taylor purchased a plantation on the banks of the Mississippi in 1823, but had difficulty making it profitable. A flood had just destroyed much of his crop: "The loss of which will have the effect to embarass me considerably." During the peak of the plantation's operations, Taylor owned over one hundred slaves. Although he avoided a public stance on the slavery issue, his support for slavery was inherent in his investment in the institution. Such views colored his opinions of the abolitionists, whose actions, he boldly writes to Wood, might disrupt the union: "The movements of the abolitionists are becoming bolder daily as well as greatly increasing in numbers; their operations give me no concer[n] further than the Union is concerned, which sooner perhaps will fall to pieces by their unlawful proceedings than otherwise would be the case. I view them in the same light I do pirates or highway robbers." Taylor's slaveholding status won him substantial southern support during the presidential campaign of 1848, ensuring his victory.
During his command at Fort Smith, a fatal shooting occurred on the Cherokee reservation during elections of Native American officials: "There is & has been for some time past some commotion among the Cherokees, growing out of a fracas which took place at their elections which [occurred] in August...in which one of their principal men lost his life, & the trial of the murderers which is going on, in addition to the murder of a white man, a licensed trader in the nation, his wife & a traveler also a white man who was passing the night with them, pretty well ascertained to have been done by a few vagabond Cherokees for his goods." Despite public concern over the incidents, Taylor predicts a peaceful solution: "This as a matter of course will be magnified in the papers to a tremendous affair & that the whole western frontier is in great danger, but with the aid of the law & order part of the nation which constitute a large majority, I have no fears of being able to keep the peace in the dept assigned to me with the means at my disposal, contrary to the wishes of the disaffected of their own people & a large number of the people of Arkansas along & near the border." In the end, Taylor dispatched a company of dragoons which quickly quieted the disruptive Arkansas settlers.
Robert Crooke Wood, a military surgeon, married Taylor's oldest daughter Ann in 1829. He maintained an active correspondance and relationship with the General until Taylor's death in 1849. Wood would rise through the ranks of the army, obtaining command of the Medical Department of the West during the Civil War.
TAYLOR'S ASSESSMENT OF THE ABOLITIONISTS: "I VIEW THEM IN THE SAME LIGHT I DO PIRATES OR HIGHWAY ROBBERS"
An intriguing letter of the future president from his post on the Arkansas frontier, to his son-in-law, military surgeon Robert Crooke Wood. Taylor, who began his military career in 1808 as a First Lieutenant, served in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War before being breveted a Brigadier General in 1838 during the Seminole War. On May 1 1841, he received command of the Second Military Department of the West with headquarters at Fort Smith.
Taylor commences with a discussion of family matters and a visit by his daughter Ann which, considering her current state of health "will prove greatly beneficial to her." He passes on news including changes in command in various military posts, a new bill concerning transportation costs which was induced, according to Taylor, by travel expenses of Generals Scott and Wool, and the prevalence of court martials (he notes that President Tyler has been lenient with pardons).
Taylor purchased a plantation on the banks of the Mississippi in 1823, but had difficulty making it profitable. A flood had just destroyed much of his crop: "The loss of which will have the effect to embarass me considerably." During the peak of the plantation's operations, Taylor owned over one hundred slaves. Although he avoided a public stance on the slavery issue, his support for slavery was inherent in his investment in the institution. Such views colored his opinions of the abolitionists, whose actions, he boldly writes to Wood, might disrupt the union: "The movements of the abolitionists are becoming bolder daily as well as greatly increasing in numbers; their operations give me no concer[n] further than the Union is concerned, which sooner perhaps will fall to pieces by their unlawful proceedings than otherwise would be the case. I view them in the same light I do pirates or highway robbers." Taylor's slaveholding status won him substantial southern support during the presidential campaign of 1848, ensuring his victory.
During his command at Fort Smith, a fatal shooting occurred on the Cherokee reservation during elections of Native American officials: "There is & has been for some time past some commotion among the Cherokees, growing out of a fracas which took place at their elections which [occurred] in August...in which one of their principal men lost his life, & the trial of the murderers which is going on, in addition to the murder of a white man, a licensed trader in the nation, his wife & a traveler also a white man who was passing the night with them, pretty well ascertained to have been done by a few vagabond Cherokees for his goods." Despite public concern over the incidents, Taylor predicts a peaceful solution: "This as a matter of course will be magnified in the papers to a tremendous affair & that the whole western frontier is in great danger, but with the aid of the law & order part of the nation which constitute a large majority, I have no fears of being able to keep the peace in the dept assigned to me with the means at my disposal, contrary to the wishes of the disaffected of their own people & a large number of the people of Arkansas along & near the border." In the end, Taylor dispatched a company of dragoons which quickly quieted the disruptive Arkansas settlers.
Robert Crooke Wood, a military surgeon, married Taylor's oldest daughter Ann in 1829. He maintained an active correspondance and relationship with the General until Taylor's death in 1849. Wood would rise through the ranks of the army, obtaining command of the Medical Department of the West during the Civil War.