Zachary Taylor at Walnut Springs

Zachary Taylor at Walnut Springs

One of James K. Polk's objectives when he became president of the United States in 1845 was to purchase California from Mexico. When his overture was rebuffed, Polk sent the American army to the Rio Grande. When Congress declared war on Mexico, General Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), a forty-year veteran, led the army to victory in Monterrey and Buena Vista. Talk of these triumphs soon led Taylor to be posited as a candidate for president. A supporter commissioned English émigré, William G. Brown to travel to Walnut Springs, near Monterrey, and paint Taylor in a military setting, so that those in eastern urban centers could identify him with his accomplishments. Taylor served as twelfth president of the United States from 1849 to 1850.