Taylor, Richard, 1826-1879

Lawyer and Confederate general.

Taylor, Richard (27 Jan. 1826-12 Apr. 1879), Louisiana Democratic party leader, and Confederate general, was born at the Taylor family home, "Springfield," near Louisville, Kentucky, the only son of Zachary Taylor, professional army officer and president, and Margaret Mackall Smith... As a delegate from Louisiana to the 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston, he attempted, but failed, to forge a compromise between moderates and fire-eaters. Thereafter viewing disunion and war as inevitable, Taylor served as a delegate to the Louisiana secession convention in January 1861 and voted with the majority for immediate secession...Promoted at Jackson's behest to major general on 28 July 1862, Taylor was the youngest officer to attain such rank. Suffering terribly from chronic rheumatoid arthritis, however, he consulted with President Davis and was given command of the District of West Louisiana... President Davis placed Taylor in command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana and promoted him to lieutenant general... In January 1865 Taylor briefly assumed command of the shattered ranks of the Army of Tennessee after General John Bell Hood's catastrophic defeats at Franklin and Nashville. As the southern cause rapidly disintegrated during the spring, Taylor saw his own department gutted by Brigadier General James H. Wilson's massive cavalry raid through Alabama and Major General Edward R. S. Canby's triumphant siege of Mobile. Taylor had "shared the fortunes of the Confederacy," as he later recalled, having "sat by its cradle and followed its hearse." -- "Richard Taylor." American National Biography Online. http://www.anb.org/ (Retrieved June 26, 2009)

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was born May 28, 1818 near New Orleans, Louisiana. He was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Beauregard graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. (1838) and served in the Mexican War (1846-1848). After the secession of Louisiana from the Union (January 1861), Beauregard resigned from the U.S. Army and was commissioned a brigadier general in the Confederate Army; he eventually became one of the eight full generals of the Confederacy and particpated in almost every important theatre of the war. He commanded the forces that bombarded Fort Sumter, S.C., and was on the field at the First Battle of Bull Run (1861), and assumed command at Shiloh after the death of General Albert Sidney Johnston (1862). He later conducted the defense of Charleston and toward the end of the war defended the southern approaches to Richmond. Though he proved to be a capable combat commander and often displayed sound strategic sense, Beauregard revealed serious deficiencies as a general officer. His penchant for questioning orders bordered on insubordination. He died on February 20, 1893 in New Orleans. Britannica Online Encyclopedia http://search.eb.com (Retrieved November 18, 2008)