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Zachary Taylor Recommends Future CSA General Albert Sidney Johnston, with Important TX Content Re: Protecting the Southern Border from Mexico, 1846
Zachary Taylor Recommends Future CSA General Albert Sidney Johnston, with Important TX Content Re: Protecting the Southern Border from Mexico, 1846
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Taylor Zachary

Zachary Taylor Recommends Future CSA General Albert Sidney Johnston, with Important Texas Content Regarding Protecting the Southern Border from Mexico, 1846

 

Bi-fold  letter signed, 8" x 10."  Dated "Head Quarters Army of Occupation, Corpus Christie, Texas, February 1st, 1846." Signed by Zachary Taylor as Brevet General "Z Taylor Bvt Genrl." Co-signed by W. L. Marcy, Secretary of War. Fine condition with expected folds.

 

A handsome letter written entirely in the hand of Zachary Taylor offering his recommendation for General Johnston for a commission in the Texas Army as a Colonel of the mounted Regiments.  Letter shown in part below:

 

"Head Quarters, Army of Occupation

Corpus Christie, Texas

February 1st, 1846

 

I be leave to present to you favorable consideration, the name of General Albert Sidney Johnston of Kentucky, now, and for come year a resident of Texas as Colonel of the mounted Regiments …

 

General Johnston is a graduate of the Military Academy of the year 1826, appointed from Louisiana - he received a high standing his class and from  .. Was relocated as Adjutant of the 6th Infy in 1828, and resigned his commission in 1834.

 

His services in Texas where he soon attained high rank, and the command of the Army are well known, and identified with the advancements of the state …his physical and moral qualifications are of a character eminently to qualify him for the command to which he aspires - His early acquaintance with the struggles of Texas, his  …. command, knowledge of the topography of the country, his popularity are additional reasons that his appointment should be acceptable and advantageous to the country.

 

Under these circumstances it affords me pleasure to recommend him to the President for his favorable commission… "

 

The seven month encampment of General Zachary Taylor's army at Corpus Christi in 1845—1846 in the disputed frontier between Texas and Mexico merits examination for several intriguing reasons. More than half of the United States' entire army congregated there just inside the territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande which was claimed both by Mexico and Texas. The soldiers comprised the biggest assembly of United States regulars since the Revolutionary War. Among their numbers were two who would become presidents of the United States, Taylor and a young, love-starved lieutenant named Ulysses S. Grant. Moreover, a host of fledgling officers who later would become famous in the Civil War served at Corpus Christi. Here the troops' numbers swelled from 1,500 to slightly below 4,000 as they prepared for eventual combat in war with Mexico. The soldiers drilled, practiced marksmanship, reveled in the area's unspoiled natural wonders, enjoyed the more sophisticated American amusements which soon followed them to that Latin-flavored land, and eventually became disillusioned from bad weather and poor health. Upon departing Corpus Christi the regular army would win resounding victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, thereby eliminating the Mexican military threat along the Rio Grande and capturing headlines back home that would project their commander into consideration for the presidency. Unusual though the experiences at Corpus Christi seem, they nevertheless foretold in many ways what would come later as the United States forces moved into Mexico and established other camps.


The story of the incubation at Corpus Christi is one that begins with elation but erodes into despair. When the army arrived, the location was considered ideal, and surgeons on-site evaluated it as a healthy environment for the troops. However, brackish water, poor diet, poor tents, inadequate camp sanitation, and the Gulf Coast heat soon rendered as much as 13 percent of Taylor's force unfit for duty. The Mexican government viewed their position along the Rio Grande as an act of war. On April 25 the Mexican troops at Matamoros crossed the river and ambushed an American patrol. Polk seized upon the incident to secure a declaration of war on May 13 on the basis of the shedding of "American blood upon American soil." 

 

Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian (i.e. Republic of Texas Army), the United States Army and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, fighting actions in the Black Hawk War, Texas War of Independence, the Mexican-American War, the Utah War and the American Civil War.


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