On October 21, 1861, Taylor was promoted to brigadier general and commanded a Louisiana brigade under Richard S. Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley campaign and during the Seven Days. Taylor was promoted over three more senior regimental commanders, and those commanders immediately thought that favoritism was involved because of Taylor's relationship with Jefferson Davis. Instead, Davis cited Taylor's leadership capabilities and the promise he showed, and that he was recommended for the promotion by General Jackson himself. During the Valley Campaign, Jackson used Taylor's brigade as an elite strike force that set a crippling marching pace and dealt swift flanking attacks. At the Battle of Front Royal on May 23, again at the First Battle of Winchester on May 25, and finally at the climactic Battle of Port Republic on June 9, he led the Louisianans in timely assaults against strong enemy positions.
His brigade consisted of various Louisiana regiments as well as Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat's "Louisiana Tiger" battalion. The assortment was an undisciplined lot that was known for its hard-fighting on the battlefield, but also for its hard-living outside of the battlefield. Taylor instilled discipline into the Tigers and although Major Wheat did not agree with how he did so, he nonetheless respected Taylor.
Taylor was promoted to the rank of major general on July 28, 1862, the youngest major general in the Confederacy at the time. He was ordered to Opelousas, Louisiana, to conscript and enroll troops in the District of Western Louisiana, part of the Trans-Mississippi Department. John D. Winters wrote that Taylor was to "command all troops south of the Red River and was to prevent the enemy from using the rivers and bayous in the area. Troops were to be gathered and sent to fill up the ranks of Louisiana regiments serving in Virginia. After this, Taylor was to retain as many recruits as would be needed in the state. Light batteries of artillery were to be organized to harass passing enemy vessels on the streams. ... The enemy was to be confined to as narrow an area as possible, and communications and transportation across the Mississippi River were to be kept open."
After his service as a recruit officer in Louisiana, Taylor was given command of the tiny District of West Louisiana. He was sent to Louisiana after Governor Thomas Overton Moore had insistently requested a capable and dedicated officer to assemble the state's defenses and to help counter Federal forays into the state. Another reason for sending Taylor to Louisiana was attacks of rheumatoid arthritis which left him crippled for days at a time. During the Seven Days Battles, Taylor was so incapacitated that he was unable to leave his camp and command his brigade.
Before Taylor returned to Louisiana, Federal forces in the area had their way with much of southern Louisiana. During the spring of 1862, Union forces came upon Taylor's plantation, called Fashion, and plundered it.
A Vermont soldier wrote down all that occurred:
Taylor enjoyed the appointment, and the fact that he was to return to Louisiana, but found the district almost completely devoid of troops and supplies. However, he did the best with these limited resources by securing two capable subordinates, veteran infantry commander (Jean Jacques Alexandre) Alfred Mouton, and veteran cavalry commander Thomas Green. These two commanders would prove crucial to Taylor's upcoming campaigns in the state.
During 1863, Taylor directed an effective series of clashes with Union forces over control of lower Louisiana, most notably at Battle of Fort Bisland and the Battle of Irish Bend. These clashes were fought against Union Major General Nathaniel P. Banks for control of the Bayou Teche region in southern Louisiana and his ultimate objective of Siege of Port Hudson. After Banks had successfully pushed Taylor's Army of Western Louisiana aside, he continued on his way to Port Hudson via Alexandria, Louisiana. After these battles, Taylor formulated a plan to recapture Bayou Teche, along with the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, and to halt the Siege of Port Hudson.
Operations to recapture New Orleans
Taylor's plan was to move down the Bayou Teche, capturing the lightly defended outposts and supply depots, and then capturing New Orleans, which would cut off Nathaniel P. Banks's army from their supplies. Although his plan met with approval from Secretary of War James A. Seddon and President Jefferson Davis, Taylor's immediate superior, Edmund Kirby Smith, felt that operations on the Louisiana banks of the Mississippi across from Vicksburg would be the best strategy to halt the Siege of Vicksburg. From Alexandria, Louisiana, Taylor marched his army up to Richmond, Louisiana. There he was joined with Confederate Maj. Gen. John G. Walker's Texas Division, who called themselves "Walker's Greyhounds". Taylor ordered Walker's division to attack Federal troops at two locations on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi. The ensuing Battle of Milliken's Bend and Battle of Young's Point failed to accomplish the Confederate objectives. After initial success at Milliken's Bend, that engagement ended in failure after Federal gunboats began shelling the Confederate positions. Young's Point ended prematurely as well.After the battles, Taylor marched his army, minus Walker's division, down to the Bayou Teche region. From there Taylor captured Brashear City (Morgan City, Louisiana), which yielded tremendous amounts of supplies, materiel, and new weapons for his army. He then moved within the outskirts of New Orleans, which was only being held by a few green recruits under Brig. Gen. William H. Emory. While Taylor was encamped on the outskirts and preparing for his attack against the city it was then that he received word that Port Hudson had fallen. He then withdrew his forces all the way back up Bayou Teche to avoid the risk of being captured.
Red River Campaign
In 1864, Taylor humiliated Union General Nathaniel P. Banks by defeating him in the Red River Campaign with a smaller force, commanding the Confederate forces in the Battle of Mansfield and the Battle of Pleasant Hill. He then pursued Banks back to the Mississippi River and for his efforts received the Thanks of the Confederate Congress. It was at these two battles that the two commanders Taylor had come to trust, respect, and rely on during his tenure in Louisiana, Brigadier Generals Alfred Mouton and Thomas Green, were killed while leading their men into combat. On April 8, 1864, Taylor was promoted to lieutenant general, despite having asked to be relieved because of his distrust of his superior in the campaign, General Edmund Kirby Smith.Last days of the war
Taylor was given command of the Department of Alabama and Mississippi and commanded the defenses around the city of Mobile, Alabama. After John Bell Hood's disastrous campaign into Tennessee, Taylor was given command of the Army of Tennessee. He surrendered his department at Citronelle, Alabama, the last major Confederate force remaining east of the Mississippi, to Union General Edward Canby on May 8, 1865, and was paroled three days later.Adapted from the Wikipedia article Richard Taylor (general), under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
