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1847-Dated ZACHARY TAYLOR Mexican-American War Camp Autograph Letter Signed

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:5,000.00 USD Estimated At:6,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
1847-Dated ZACHARY TAYLOR Mexican-American War Camp Autograph Letter Signed
Autographs
Superb Content 1847 “Z. Taylor” Autograph Letter Signed From His Mexican-American War Camp Near Monterrey (Mexico)
ZACHARY TAYLOR (1784-1850). 12th President of the United States, serving from March 1849 until his death in July 1850. Before his presidency, Taylor was a Major General who’s status as a national hero was a result of his victories in the Mexican-American War won him election to the White House.
May 28, 1847-Dated Mexican American War, Superb Historic Content, Autograph Letter Signed, “Z. Taylor”, 3 pages, measuring 8” x 10”, at “Camp near Monterrey” (Mexico), Choice Very Fine. Written in heavy brown ink on bright, clean period wove paper to General John E. Wool, after securing the Northern Territories of Mexico, General Taylor releases his 12-month recruits, while rumors of a new peace accord run high. Docket in another hand on the blank reverse final page reads: “Camp near Monterrey - May 28, 1847 - General Taylor - ... In relation to movements of troops - peace rumors etc.” Plus, “Recd 30th May 1847”. This historic Zachary Taylor penned and Signed Autograph Letter reads, in part:

“On the subject of a forward or early movement into the heart of the enimies (sic) country I do not expect even if the war continues to be able to do so, for want of a proper force; that portion, or a large part of the ten new Regts, ordered to concentrate at Point Isabel, & which I thought might be placed under my orders, or at my disposal have with Genl. Cadwallader been ordered to Vera Cruz...” Taylor continues; “...if reports are at all to be relied on, no forward movement will be necessary... an individual in Vera Cruz [stated that] ‘he had that moment been informed by the British Consul, that he the Consul had that morning recd a letter from the British minister in the city of Mexico, that he had been applied to by the Mexican autorities, to solicit his or his govts, good officer to bring about a peace with the U. States’; if it is true, & there appears to be but little doubt of the fact, the war may be considered at an end, & no doubt an armistice has been already entered into by the parties concerned until the preliminaries for a final peace can be adjusted.”

This amazing content Letter dates from the height of Zachary Taylor’s fame, which would vault him to the Presidency just three years later. Accompanied by an early, complete transcript in deep brown easily readable handwriting, on fresh, bright crisp wove paper. (2 items).
The rumor of a peace overture from the Mexican government was unfounded, although it was hoped that Taylor’s victory at Buena Vista would compel the Mexicans to surrender. The opposite was true, however, as the Mexican General Santa Anna took his force south to defend Mexico City in the face of Winfield Scott’s advance. The Mexican-American War would drag on for yet another nine months. When Mexico refused American peace overtures, President Polk ordered Taylor to hold his position in northern Mexico while General Winfield Scott took most of Taylor’s army and more than 10,000 reinforcements on a campaign to capture Mexico City by way of a landing at Vera Cruz. Taylor, left with an army of fewer than 5,000 mostly untried volunteers, faced a savage attack from Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and 20,000 regulars, militia, and conscripts at the cataclysmic Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. The fight, although a narrow U.S. victory, brought Zachary Taylor to the forefront of the American imagination.

General Zachary Taylor was a native of Virginia but an adopted Kentuckian. Born in 1784, he had risen to some national prominence as an army officer in the War of 1812 and in campaigns against Seminole Indians in the 1830s.

President James K. Polk ordered the 62-year-old brigadier general to lead a 3,500-man army into Texas to secure that newly annexed state, and as tensions between the United States and Mexico mounted, ordered him to establish a fortified base near the mouth of the Rio Grande River. Hostilities broke out in late April and early May, and Taylor drove Mexican forces from the region in a series of well-fought battles that earned him promotion to Major General. Taylor slowly pursued the defeated Mexican troops toward Monterrey, Mexico, and captured that important city in September 1846.

When Mexico refused American peace overtures, President Polk ordered Taylor to hold his position in northern Mexico while General Winfield Scott took most of Taylor’s army and more than 10,000 reinforcements on a campaign to capture Mexico City by way of a landing at Vera Cruz. Taylor, left with an army of fewer than 5,000 mostly untried volunteers, faced a savage attack from Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and 20,000 regulars, militia, and conscripts at the cataclysmic Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. The fight, although a narrow U.S. victory, brought Zachary Taylor to the forefront of the American imagination.

This acclaim carried him to the White House in 1848. As President, Taylor faced a host of challenges regarding the expansion of Slavery into the territory captured from Mexico. After a life of rigorous service, Taylor died in office in 1850.