Taylor Zachary

Taylor, ZACHARY (1784-1850), twelfth President of the United States, was born in Orange county, Virginia. He entered the army in 1808, and rendered eminent services in the war with the Indians which followed. As commander in the south-west in 1846, he was ordered to occupy the part of Texas claimed by Mexico, and thus brought about the Mexican War. Its chief feature was the crushing defeat inflicted by Taylor at Buena Vista on a force four times as strong as his own (February, 1847). The "rough-and-ready" general was now so popular that he was chosen as Whig candidate for the Presidency, and was elected, but he only survived his inauguration four months.