Description:

Z. Taylor, : "our enemy…battle of Waterloo…master in the art of war…" As Pres.-Elect, Uses Martial Language After 1848 Pres. Election

A 1p autograph letter signed by President-Elect Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), future 12th U.S. President, as "Z. Taylor, Majr, Genl, / U.S. Army" at lower right. December 29, 1848. Baton Rouge, Louisiana. On pale gray paper. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds. An isolated water stain/smudge affecting four words is found at center near the right edge. Minor paper loss to two of the four corners. Else near fine, bold, and dark. 7.75" x 9.75." Taylor's letter is accompanied by the original transmittal postal cover also engrossed by him, postmarked from Baton Rouge on January 1, 1849, laid down and tipped into a stabilizing larger stock mount measuring 5.5" x 3.75" overall. Also included is the original 1p autograph letter signed by George J. Gross to which Taylor was responding to, dated December 8, 1848, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On bifold paper with scattered wrinkles and isolated stains, else near fine. 4.125" x 6.5."

Extensive and invaluable research compiled by a former collector, William Hallam "Hal" Webber (1944-2021) of Gaithersburg, Maryland, is also included. This documentation includes additional information about Taylor's correspondent, George J. Gross, the Philadelphia journalist whose article about the 1848 presidential election so delighted Taylor, and who later wrote "The Battle-Field of Gettysburg" (Philadelphia: Collins, Printer, 705 Jayne Street, 1866). Included is Webber's correspondence with the Manuscript Department of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and a photocopy of Gross's original article; and 1965 Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc. auction listings for similar Taylor ALSs dating from 1848. Webber paid $4,750 for this Taylor ALS obtained from Dave Zullo of Old Soldier Books (Gaithersburg, Maryland) in 1991, and also received an optimistically priced retail estimate of $35,000.

George J. Gross wrote Major General Zachary Taylor this congratulatory letter about a month after Taylor and his Whig Party running mate Millard Fillmore had won the November 7, 1848 presidential election. Under the pseudonym True Man Smith, Gross had written an article entitled "The Battle of the 7th November" which was published in the "North American and United States Gazette" on November 25, 1848. Gross's front-page, 2,700-word article was a satirical retelling of the recent presidential election described in the style of a battle report. Gross ended his letter with a request for an autograph, which Gross assures Taylor "I should value above every thing earthly."

Zachary Taylor sent George J. Gross this equally flattering letter three weeks later, significantly signing it with his military rank, Major General of the U.S. Army, instead of as President-Elect. Taylor's attitude towards his upcoming presidency was relaxed; he did not resign from his command of the Western Division until January 1849, just two months before his inauguration.

In this letter, Taylor describes the 1848 presidential election using martial language: he likens the opposing party to something very nearly "our enemy" and as a "vanquished foe." This suggests that Taylor still very much identified with the military sphere and not the political one. Taylor may have been a little tongue-in-cheek here, continuing the playful tone of Gross's original article, but he also stated that Gross's analysis of the event was as skillfully presented as the post-campaign summary after the Battle of Waterloo. Taylor salutes Gross's real knowledge of military action as a "master of the art of war." This was praise indeed coming from an inveterate soldier like Taylor, with decades of on-the-ground military experience.

Taylor wrote in full, with unchanged spelling, punctuation, and usage:

"Baton Rouge Louisiana
December 29th, 1848

My dear Sir,

Your very acceptable and interesting letter of the 8th inst. with its enclosure [not included in this lot] has just reached me, for which you have my most cordial thanks.

The article enclosed had reached me before the receipt of your letter, and was read with great care as well as gratification, and it would have been done with additional pleasure if it had not borne quite so hard, if not our enemy, on a defeated party; Yet all must agree as to the tact and ability with which it has been written, and if not done by a master in the art of war, it was done by one who had studied and attained the very best style of drawing up an[d] describing in detail the operations of a great battle, hardly inferior to the report of the battle of Waterloo, made to his govt. by the great commander and visitor of that desperate contested field; at the same time we ought not to forget that those opposed to us on the occasion in question was our countrymen friends and brethren, and must therefore treat them with all possible kindness as well as courtesy, and strip them only of a fair portion of the spoils of office; nor must we 'stain our Laurels by the humiliation of a vanquished foe.'

With my best wishes for your continued health and prosperity through a long life, I remain with high considerations of respect and esteem

Your obt. Servt.

Z. Taylor, Majr. Genl.
U.S. Army

Mr. Geo. J. Gross
Philadelphia

over."

Zachary Taylor served as a career military officer, participating in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and the Mexican-American War. Taylor's "vanquished foe[s]" of the 1848 presidential election were Democratic Party presidential nominee Lewis Cass and Free Soil Party candidate Martin Van Buren. The Whig Taylor/Fillmore ticket secured over 47% of the popular vote and 163 Electoral College votes. Zachary Taylor served as president between March 1849 and his death mid-term in July 1850.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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