Potus Geeks Summer Reruns: The Courtship of Zachary's Daughter
[Originally Posted August 29, 2013]
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States, following a distinguished career as a soldier in the US Army. He was also the father-in-law of Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America. The two men met when Davis was a young second lieutenant, fresh from West Point, reporting for duty at Fort Crawford, while Taylor was a Colonel. Davis was twenty years of age when he graduated from West Point in July, 1828.
In the autumn of 1828 Davis was assigned to duty at Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, which shared with Fort Snelling the task of guarding the frontier of the Upper Mississippi. In the summer of 1829 Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor was transferred from Fort Snelling to the command of Fort Crawford. Taylor brought his family with him — his wife, his son and three daughters. Soon after their arrival, however, Davis was ordered to Fort Winnebago, another important post on the northwestern border. It commanded the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers on the waterway from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, and was the strategic center of operations in case of attack by one of the Indian tribes living in northern Wisconsin.
In 1831 Davis returned to Fort Crawford and was ordered up Yellow River in Wisconsin to superintend the building of a sawmill. After his return from the Yellow River assignment, Jefferson Davis was sent by Taylor, his commanding officer, to effect the removal of the miners who were unlawfully working the lead mines in the vicinity of Dubuque. Local Indians opposed trespassing on their land, while the miners felt that the government was restricting their right to exploit the rich veins of lead. A previous attempt to dislodge the miners from the Iowa side had failed. Davis succeeded in persuading the miners to leave the Iowa land and to recross the Mississippi after assuring the miners that their claims to the lead-mine region would be recognized after a treaty had been made with the Indians.
The Black Hawk War in 1832 caused alarm throughout northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. The insurrection was put down and Davis was ordered to transport Black Hawk to Jefferson Barracks. The prisoners were well treated by Davis and Black Hawk appreciated the kindly attitude of Davis toward him. With Black Hawk in confinement at Jefferson Barracks, Lieutenant Davis again returned to Fort Crawford.
Davis began courting Sarah Knox Taylor, the charming daughter of "Old Rough and Ready". It is said that Taylor always considered his own presence necessary to the proper entertainment of his daughters' callers. He insisted on being present on the occasion of their visits, and would decide when his daughters' gentlemen callers had to leave. Taylor's presence did not seem to deter Davis, and it was not long before their engagement was announced. When the news was told to Taylor, he remarked that while he had the kindliest feeling for his daughter's choice, he had hoped that none of his daughters would ever marry into the army.
It was not long, however, until the "kindliest feeling" Taylor had for Davis changed and a bitter quarrel arose between the two men. A court martial had been ordered at the garrison. Taylor acted as president, while Davis, Major Tom Smith, and a young officer who had just reported for duty constituted the rest of the court. When they assembled, the young officer appeared in civilian clothes, offering the excuse that his uniform had been delayed at St. Louis. Taylor refused to consider any cases until the officer could take his seat in full uniform. An angry discussion over the question ensued, a vote was called for and, much to Taylor's surprise, Davis voted with Smith to go on with the trial. Taylor reportedly became enraged and told Davis that any man who would vote with his nemesis Smith on a question like that could never marry his daughter. He forbade Davis from ever entering his home again.
Shortly after this, Davis was promoted from a second lieutenant in the infantry to the position of first lieutenant and adjutant of the First Dragoons in 1834. This promotion took him away from Fort Crawford to Fort Gibson, Arkansas. But distance did not affect the romance between Davis and Sarah in the least. On June 30, 1835, Davis severed all connections with the United States army. He returned to old Fort Crawford to settle the dispute with Taylor. Sarah told her father that she intended to marry Davis but Taylor flatly refused his consent to their marriage. Shortly after the departure of Davis from the fort, Miss Taylor decided to go to live with her aunt in Kentucky. Taylor never saw Sarah afterward, and the estrangement between him and Davis never healed during her life. Sarah remained with her aunt until Davis came for her and the two were married on June 17, 1835. Two of Taylor's sisters, his oldest brother, and other members of the Taylor family were present at the marriage. The young couple then left for the Davis plantation, "Brierfield", on the Mississippi River, thirty miles south of Vicksburg. Their marriage, however, was short lived. In the autumn of that year the young bride caught malaria, which was prevalent in the lower Mississippi region, and died on September 15, 1835.
Davis was devastated by the death of his young wife, as were her parents. Her death caused years of ill will between Davis and Zachary Taylor; he and his wife felt that Davis should have known better than to go to St. Francisville in the fever season. According to author Hudson Strode in his biography of Davis, the two men met by chance in 1845 on a Mississippi steamboat and achieved some reconciliation.
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States, following a distinguished career as a soldier in the US Army. He was also the father-in-law of Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America. The two men met when Davis was a young second lieutenant, fresh from West Point, reporting for duty at Fort Crawford, while Taylor was a Colonel. Davis was twenty years of age when he graduated from West Point in July, 1828.
In the autumn of 1828 Davis was assigned to duty at Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, which shared with Fort Snelling the task of guarding the frontier of the Upper Mississippi. In the summer of 1829 Lieutenant Colonel Zachary Taylor was transferred from Fort Snelling to the command of Fort Crawford. Taylor brought his family with him — his wife, his son and three daughters. Soon after their arrival, however, Davis was ordered to Fort Winnebago, another important post on the northwestern border. It commanded the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers on the waterway from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, and was the strategic center of operations in case of attack by one of the Indian tribes living in northern Wisconsin.
In 1831 Davis returned to Fort Crawford and was ordered up Yellow River in Wisconsin to superintend the building of a sawmill. After his return from the Yellow River assignment, Jefferson Davis was sent by Taylor, his commanding officer, to effect the removal of the miners who were unlawfully working the lead mines in the vicinity of Dubuque. Local Indians opposed trespassing on their land, while the miners felt that the government was restricting their right to exploit the rich veins of lead. A previous attempt to dislodge the miners from the Iowa side had failed. Davis succeeded in persuading the miners to leave the Iowa land and to recross the Mississippi after assuring the miners that their claims to the lead-mine region would be recognized after a treaty had been made with the Indians.
The Black Hawk War in 1832 caused alarm throughout northwestern Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. The insurrection was put down and Davis was ordered to transport Black Hawk to Jefferson Barracks. The prisoners were well treated by Davis and Black Hawk appreciated the kindly attitude of Davis toward him. With Black Hawk in confinement at Jefferson Barracks, Lieutenant Davis again returned to Fort Crawford.
Davis began courting Sarah Knox Taylor, the charming daughter of "Old Rough and Ready". It is said that Taylor always considered his own presence necessary to the proper entertainment of his daughters' callers. He insisted on being present on the occasion of their visits, and would decide when his daughters' gentlemen callers had to leave. Taylor's presence did not seem to deter Davis, and it was not long before their engagement was announced. When the news was told to Taylor, he remarked that while he had the kindliest feeling for his daughter's choice, he had hoped that none of his daughters would ever marry into the army.
It was not long, however, until the "kindliest feeling" Taylor had for Davis changed and a bitter quarrel arose between the two men. A court martial had been ordered at the garrison. Taylor acted as president, while Davis, Major Tom Smith, and a young officer who had just reported for duty constituted the rest of the court. When they assembled, the young officer appeared in civilian clothes, offering the excuse that his uniform had been delayed at St. Louis. Taylor refused to consider any cases until the officer could take his seat in full uniform. An angry discussion over the question ensued, a vote was called for and, much to Taylor's surprise, Davis voted with Smith to go on with the trial. Taylor reportedly became enraged and told Davis that any man who would vote with his nemesis Smith on a question like that could never marry his daughter. He forbade Davis from ever entering his home again.
Shortly after this, Davis was promoted from a second lieutenant in the infantry to the position of first lieutenant and adjutant of the First Dragoons in 1834. This promotion took him away from Fort Crawford to Fort Gibson, Arkansas. But distance did not affect the romance between Davis and Sarah in the least. On June 30, 1835, Davis severed all connections with the United States army. He returned to old Fort Crawford to settle the dispute with Taylor. Sarah told her father that she intended to marry Davis but Taylor flatly refused his consent to their marriage. Shortly after the departure of Davis from the fort, Miss Taylor decided to go to live with her aunt in Kentucky. Taylor never saw Sarah afterward, and the estrangement between him and Davis never healed during her life. Sarah remained with her aunt until Davis came for her and the two were married on June 17, 1835. Two of Taylor's sisters, his oldest brother, and other members of the Taylor family were present at the marriage. The young couple then left for the Davis plantation, "Brierfield", on the Mississippi River, thirty miles south of Vicksburg. Their marriage, however, was short lived. In the autumn of that year the young bride caught malaria, which was prevalent in the lower Mississippi region, and died on September 15, 1835.
Davis was devastated by the death of his young wife, as were her parents. Her death caused years of ill will between Davis and Zachary Taylor; he and his wife felt that Davis should have known better than to go to St. Francisville in the fever season. According to author Hudson Strode in his biography of Davis, the two men met by chance in 1845 on a Mississippi steamboat and achieved some reconciliation.