This collection consists of letters sent by Zachary Taylor while serving in the U.S. Army during the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848, primarily to his brother-in-law, U.S. Army surgeon Robert Crooke Wood.

Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784-July 9, 1850), the twelfth president of the United States, was born in Orange County, Virginia, the son of a planter and enslaver, and raised in Kentucky. He joined the U.S. Army in 1808 and was made a brevet major in 1812 following a successful defense of Fort Harrison, Indiana against a Native American attack led by the Shawnee chief Tecumseh. Taylor fought in the Black Hawk War in 1832 and against the Seminole Nation in Florida from 1837 to 1838; he commanded Fort Smith in Arkansas from 1841 to 1844. In 1845, Taylor was sent to Texas by President James K. Polk, anticipating conflict with Mexico over the U.S. annexation of Texas and disputes over national boundaries. During the Mexican-American War that followed, Taylor led troops in battles at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, May 1846; Monterrey, September 1846; and Buena Vista, February 1847. He was made a major general during the war, which ended in a U.S. victory with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February 1848.

2.34 Linear Feet (2 flat boxes)

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