General Taylor's Etat De Service

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Zachary Taylor's Early Career

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Colonel Taylor destined his son William for the Army, while Zachary was to be a farmer. The former died soon after entering the service and Zachary, earnestly desiring a military career, received from President Jefferson a commission as first lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry. This commission was dated May 3, 1808, a few months before Zachary Taylor s relative, James Madison, was elected president of the United States.

The young officer reported to General Wilkinson at New Orleans, but was soon stricken with yellow fever and forced to return home to be nursed back to health. His marriage occurred about a year later and on November 30, 1810, he was promoted and became a captain. In 1811 his regiment, the Seventh, marched northward with the Fourth Infantry to serve under General Harrison, then governor of the Northwest territory, who was endeavoring to subdue the Indians.

The battle of Tippecanoe was fought November 7, 1811. The second war with Great Britain began in less than a year the act declaring war was dated June 18, 1812 and in September the young captain had his first real baptism of fire. In command of a single company of the Seventh, he was defending Fort Harrison when, on September 10, 1812, it was attacked by the Indians, who greatly outnumbered the little garrison, and there he displayed such bravery, skill, and resourcefulness in defense that he was warmly praised by his superior officers and was brevetted major by the President.

His service against the Indians of the North west continued until the close of the war, and on May 15, 1814, he received the full rank of major and was assigned to the Twenty-sixth Infantry. He then led
an expedition against the Indians and their British allies on Rock river and further distinguished himself. [Source]

Madness To Continue At Credit Island

"To chastise the perfidious Sacs, became at once the duty of Governors Edwards and Clark, and Major Zachary Taylor was selected for the purpose; to ascend the river and punish them.  He left Fort Independence...August 2, 1814...".

"In that battle* Major Taylor had 11 men badly wounded, three mortally, and with the outnumbering horde of..[Indians] and English against his 334 men and officers, he conceived it would have been madness to continue the unequal contest, with no prospect of success.  At the council which followed he put the question to his officers direct and to a man, his position was sustained.  Accordingly the expedition, a pronounced failure... ." [Source]

Library Of Congress Map Excerpt
Credit Island - South Of Rock Island & Ft. Armstrong

*Credit Island (present-day map)

Zachary Taylor's Executive Ability

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"He was a soldier, with good executive ability."

"At the time Taylor had reached his twenty-first year he was a tough, rough, and vigorous fellow ready for any emergency calling for pluck, endurance ,and sound manly judgment. His father had been a soldier, and the circumstances in which he had been reared led his inclinations in the same way."

The Hero Of Fort Harrison

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From Fort Harrison on the banks of the Wabash, 1812-1912, by Fort Harrison Centennial Association:

"...September 4, 1812, this Fort was commanded by Captain Zachary Taylor, who had about fifty men under his command, less than a score of whom were available for military duty, the others having been incapacitated by sickness."

"All facts go to show the attacking Indians were an adjunct to the British plan to exterminate Fort Harrison. Captain Taylor's conduct on that trying night was characteristic of his entire life--he superintended every detail of the defense. His heroic conduct won for him the rank and title of Major by brevet, an unusual thing in Indian warfare."

See A Sketch Of Fort Harrison and Fort Harrison.

Taylor Takes Command

TAYLOR

TAKES COMMAND

Captain Zachary Taylor has been placed in command of the garrison near this ("this" is Fort Knox, Vincennes, Indiana).  

Through the winter of 1811-12, the army, of course, suspended its operations, but in the following spring the Indians were joined by the British and the war was resumed with additional fury. The command of Fort Harrison on the Wabash was entrusted to Captain Taylor with a garrison of about fifty men. [Source]

1812 Letter Written At Fort Harrison

From Indiana History:

Zachary Taylor, Fort Harrison, Indiana Territory, to General James Taylor, Newport, Kentucky

General James Taylor and Zachary Taylor were cousins.  Per Wikipedia:
"Gen. James Taylor Jr. was Quartermaster General and paymaster of the Northwestern Army during the War of 1812, thus Newport became a vital center for war supplies."

Papers of General James Taylor are held at the Kentucky Historical Society.

Capt. Anderson's Journal And His Orders For The Rock River Expedition

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online's entry for Thomas Gummersall Anderson "Indian agent; b. at Sorel, Province of Quebec, 12 Nov. 1779, sixth son of Captain Samuel Anderson, loyalist, and Deliverance Butts; d. at Port Hope, Ont., 10 Feb. 1875."

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[Excerpt from above letter]
Fort McKay, Aug. 26, 1814

 To Lieut. [Duncan] Graham--

Sir--The expedition for the Rock River under your command, being now in readiness,... . On your arrival there you will assemble the Indians and explain to them that the intention of the expedition is to support them in defending their lands and women and children according to promises made to them by their father Robert Dickson and Lieut Col. McKay.... .

That they must not amuse themselves during the action in taking scalps. They must destroy the enemy as much as possible except prisoners.

Thos G Anderson, Capt Comd'g

Note:  Lieutenant Graham's forces met the American forces under Zachary Taylor at Credit Island.  The War of 1812 Archaeology blog described it as "The Forgotten Battle."

The Brief Tenure of Fort Johnson

"Fort Johnson was a U.S. Army post built on bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in modern-day Warsaw, Illinois during the War of 1812. The fort was established in September 1814 by Major Zachary Taylor, future U.S. president."  "Because of the chaotic situation along the Mississippi River frontier, the fort was abandoned in late October 1814 after provisions ran out. The company retreated to Cap au Gris near St. Louis."  Source: Wikipedia

The Quincy Herald Whig had an article (reprinted at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey website) about the fort at Warsaw, Illinois:

"It wasn't their intent to leave a lot behind, but it's amazing what is here given the short length of their stay."  "They didn't want them to fall into the wrong hands," Nolan said."  "The wrong hands, the British and the Sauk Indians, were never far away."

 "In between St. Louis, which was a hub, and Fort Dearborn in Chicago, it was pretty much no man's land. Other than Fort Madison, we basically have the only story to be told here."

The Callaway Family Association blog has a copy of the Callaway map of Fort Johnson (thought to be the sole drawing of the fort).

Attack At The Narrows

Fort Knox II near Vincennes, Indiana

Following the relief army to Fort Harrison was a party of thirteen soldiers under Lieutenant Fairbanks of the Seventh Infantry escorting a supply wagon loaded with flour and meat. On 13 September 1812, the supply wagon was ambushed by a Potawatomi war party...near modern Fairbanks, Indiana. Only two men...managed to escape back to Fort Knox alive... . [Wikipedia]

Letter from Zachary Taylor, dated September 13, 1812, from Fort Harrison regarding a possible attack at the Narrows (which is exactly what happened):

See Duff Green post.  Green served at Vincennes and Fort Harrison under General William Henry Harrison.