Defying orders, Taylor led his troops further south and, despite being severely outnumbered, dealt a crushing blow to Mexican forces under General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle of Buena Vista.

Taylor died suddenly of a stomach disease on July 9, 1850, with his administration having accomplished little aside from the ratification of the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty and having made no progress on the most divisive issue in Congress and the nation: slavery.

[9] Louisville's rapid growth was a boon for Taylor's father, who by the start of the 19th century had acquired 10,000 acres (40 km2) throughout Kentucky, as well as 26 slaves to cultivate the most developed portion of his holdings.

[15][16] The couple had six children: After their marriage, Taylor and his wife bought a dilapidated cottage in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which they finished remodeling shortly before the War of 1812 broke out.

[31] Despite being in one of the state's most productive cotton-growing regions, Cypress Grove failed to turn a profit for Taylor, due to low cotton prices, frequent flooding, poor weather, and difficulties with pests.

Taylor and his manager, Thomas Ringgold, attempted to make the property self-sufficient, also selling timber to defray costs and building an extensive system of levees and floodgates.

[25] After serving briefly in the Kentucky militia in 1806,[33][34] Taylor joined the U.S. Army on May 3, 1808; receiving a commission from President Thomas Jefferson as a first lieutenant of the Kentuckian Seventh Infantry Regiment.

Under James Wilkinson's command, the soldiers at Terre aux Boeufs suffered greatly from disease and lack of supplies, and Taylor was given an extended leave, returning to Louisville to recover.

[39][40] Taylor was temporarily called to Washington, D.C., to testify for Wilkinson as a witness in a court-martial, and so did not take part in the November 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe against the forces of Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief.

The September 1812 battle was the American forces' first land victory of the war, for which Taylor received wide praise, as well as a brevet (temporary) promotion to the rank of major.

After some time on furlough, spent expanding his landholdings, Taylor was promoted to colonel of the 1st Infantry Regiment in April 1832, when the Black Hawk War was beginning in the West.

In May 1838, Jesup stepped down and placed Taylor in command of all American troops in Florida, a position he held for two years—his reputation as a military leader was growing and he became known as "Old Rough and Ready.

[63][64] In anticipation of the annexation of the Republic of Texas, which had established independence in 1836, Taylor was sent in April 1844 to Fort Jesup in Louisiana, and ordered to guard against attempts by Mexico to reclaim the territory.

[82] Learning of Santa Anna's approach, and refusing to retreat despite the Mexican army's greater numbers, Taylor established a strong defensive position near the town of Saltillo.

[95] He was also a firm American nationalist, and due to his experience of seeing many people die as a result of warfare, believed that secession was a bad way to resolve national problems.

His support was drawn from an unusually broad assortment of political bands, including Whigs and Democrats, Northerners and Southerners, allies and opponents of national leaders such as Polk and Henry Clay.

[96] Taylor despised both Polk and his policies, while the Whigs were considering nominating another war hero for the presidency after the success of its previous winning nominee, William Henry Harrison, in 1840.

Fillmore's selection was largely an attempt at reconciliation with northern Whigs, who were furious at the nomination of a slave-owning southerner; no faction of the party was satisfied with the final ticket.

[100][101] It was initially unclear whether Taylor would accept the nomination because he did not respond to the letters notifying him of the convention's outcome, because he had instructed his local post office not to deliver his mail to avoid postage fees.

[119] As the threat of Southern secession grew, he sided increasingly with antislavery Northerners such as Senator William H. Seward of New York, even suggesting that he would sign the Wilmot Proviso to ban slavery in federal territories should such a bill reach his desk.

[121] The administration dispatched Representative Thomas Butler King to California, to test the waters and advocate statehood, knowing that Californians were certain to adopt an anti-slavery constitution.

The territory newly won from Mexico was under federal jurisdiction, but the Texans claimed a swath of land north of Santa Fe and were determined to include it within their borders, despite having no significant presence there.

[123] The Latter Day Saint (Mormon) settlers of modern-day Utah had established a provisional State of Deseret, an enormous swath of territory that had little hope of recognition by Congress.

He recapped international events and suggested several adjustments to tariff policy and executive organization, but the sectional crisis facing Congress overshadowed such issues.

In a more positive effort, the administration arranged for two ships to assist in the United Kingdom's search for a team of British explorers, led by John Franklin, who had gotten lost in the Arctic.

[132] They also confronted Spain, which had arrested several Americans on the charge of piracy, but the Spaniards eventually surrendered them to maintain good relations with the U.S.[133] Arguably the Taylor administration's definitive accomplishment in foreign policy was the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty of 1850, regarding a proposed inter-oceanic canal through Central America.

[138] Tensions flared as Congress negotiated and secession talks grew, culminating with a threat from Taylor to send troops into New Mexico to protect its border from Texas, with himself leading the army.

[143] On July 4, 1850, Taylor reportedly consumed copious amounts of cherries and iced milk while attending holiday celebrations during a fund-raising event at the Washington Monument, which was then under construction.

In 1881, John Bingham, well known for serving as the Judge Advocate General at the Lincoln assassination trial, wrote an editorial in The New York Times alleging that Jefferson Davis had poisoned Taylor.

[164] Despite his shortcomings, the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty affecting relations with Great Britain in Central America is "recognized as an important step in scaling down the nation's commitment to Manifest Destiny as a policy.