A brief biographical entry is found in The Brewster Genealogy, 1566-1907, Volume 1, New York: The Grafton Press (1908), by Emma Brewster Jones, page 133 (public domain), transcribed below:
"Brevet Colonel Joseph Hancock Taylor, U. S. A., b. Jan. 25, 1836; d. at Omaha, Neb., March 13, 1885. A graduate of West Point, "who was several times promoted for gallantry in the Union Service during the Civil War.”
An obituary appears in The Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy: Annual Reunion, June 12th 1885, pages 98-100 (public domain), transcribed below:
"JOSEPH H. TAYLOR.
No. 1741. · CLASS OF 1856.
Died, March 13, 1885, at Omaha, Neb., aged 49.
JOSEPH HANCOCK Taylor entered the Military Academy July 1st, 1852, at the age of 16 years and 5 months, under an appointment "at large” from President Fillmore. He was the son of the late Commissary General Joseph P. Taylor, the nephew of President Zachary Taylor, and the grandson of Richard Taylor, who was a Captain in Patrick Henry's Virginia Regiment of the Revolution, later a Major of “Continentals.”
With such a lineage it might fairly be expected that the young cadet's highest aspirations in connection with his coming career at the Academy, would be largely in the direction of the purely military part of the course; and such was in fact the case. While his ambition did not lead him to aspire to high class honors, he nevertheless gave conscientious and faithful work to all branches of study included in the academic course, which secured him such class rank as fulfilled all his desires in that direction. But the dearest hope of his heart was to attain the military honors of his class—the Adjutancy. This was awarded to him by the academic authorities and by common consent of his class and the corps was regarded as deservedly won, though in competition with such classmates as Snyder, McAllister, Poe, Fitzhugh Lee, Guilford, Bailey, George D. Bayard, “Tony” Forsyth, Sprigg Carroll, Sanders, Vinton, and many others, who subsequently achieved great distinction in the service.
He bore his honors well, and was the model Adjutant of the day, distinguished for high military bearing, for strict attention to all points of discipline; but courteous withal, eminently popular in his class, and beloved in the Corps.
Upon being graduated, his highest hopes, in connection with his future military career, were gratified by his assignment to the Cavalry arm of the service. The then First Cavalry had been organized only during the previous year, with the ever gallant, noble E. V. Sumner at its head. From the Colonel to the Junior Second Lieutenant, every officer had been specially selected either on account of previous services, or for manifest fitness. From the completion of its organization, the military history of our nation cannot be written without mention of nearly every one of its officers.
Let us recall the names of a few of those best known and remembered to-day: Glorious old Sumner, Joe Johnston, John Sedgwick, Emory, McClellan, Sacket, T. J. Wood, Sturgis, McIntosh, Carr, Stanley, Frank Wheaton, “Jeb” Stuart, Colburn, George D. Bayard - a galaxy of names which should live as long as the profession of arms is honored in our country.
To this regiment Taylor was assigned, and he joined without delay. The times were favorable to young officers of spirit and ambition. The great western plains, from Dakota to Texas, were alive with hostile Indians, whose physical courage was of the highest order, as yet undaunted by the reverses of battle, and whose manhood had not been impaired by the vices of frontier civilization. To conquer a lasting peace from these people, constituted a continuous and exceedingly dangerous work for all our Cavalry during many years. Upon this work Taylor entered with a zeal and devotion which were conspicuous and unflagging. Within two short years from joining, while still a Junior Second Lieutenant, he became a marked man among the distinguished of his regiment. Three more years of the same character of service, full of professional experience, energy, and success to him, brought us to the outbreak of the late war, and gave Taylor a record at the War Department which ensured his promotion to one of the Senior Captaincies of the Sixth Cavalry, then being raised. He joined . his new regiment early in August, 1861, and entered upon the organization and instruction of his troop with characteristic zeal and energy. But, in those stirring days of our history, the pressing need of officers of knowledge, experience, and ability, would not long permit his retention as a Captain of Cavalry. In November following, upon urgent, special and personal application, he was assigned as Assistant Adjutant-General, and Chief-of-Staff to his old Colonel, Sumner, (now become a Major-General, and commanding one of the most important and famous divisions of the Army of the Potomac) than whom no one knew Taylor better, or appreciated him more highly. From that time his service with Sumner's Division, with the Second Corps, and the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, was recognized throughout that army as conspicuous, brilliant, and of the first order of military merit.
His varied services subsequent to the war, though comparatively inconspicuous, are known to the Army; and his brother officers need no reminder of them to feel assured that they were faithfully performed.
But his account is now closed. His record is written. At the War Department it is one of which the military service may well be proud. In the memory of his brother officers it is that of a gentleman of the most elevated sense of honor; a brilliant, gallant soldier; a sincere, faithful and beloved comrade. In the hearts of his family it is that of a dutiful son, a loving and tender husband, an affectionate and devoted father. His name will be remembered and honored in our Association so long as our well loved Alma Mater shall live."
"Brevet Colonel Joseph Hancock Taylor, U. S. A., b. Jan. 25, 1836; d. at Omaha, Neb., March 13, 1885. A graduate of West Point, "who was several times promoted for gallantry in the Union Service during the Civil War.”
An obituary appears in The Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy: Annual Reunion, June 12th 1885, pages 98-100 (public domain), transcribed below:
"JOSEPH H. TAYLOR.
No. 1741. · CLASS OF 1856.
Died, March 13, 1885, at Omaha, Neb., aged 49.
JOSEPH HANCOCK Taylor entered the Military Academy July 1st, 1852, at the age of 16 years and 5 months, under an appointment "at large” from President Fillmore. He was the son of the late Commissary General Joseph P. Taylor, the nephew of President Zachary Taylor, and the grandson of Richard Taylor, who was a Captain in Patrick Henry's Virginia Regiment of the Revolution, later a Major of “Continentals.”
With such a lineage it might fairly be expected that the young cadet's highest aspirations in connection with his coming career at the Academy, would be largely in the direction of the purely military part of the course; and such was in fact the case. While his ambition did not lead him to aspire to high class honors, he nevertheless gave conscientious and faithful work to all branches of study included in the academic course, which secured him such class rank as fulfilled all his desires in that direction. But the dearest hope of his heart was to attain the military honors of his class—the Adjutancy. This was awarded to him by the academic authorities and by common consent of his class and the corps was regarded as deservedly won, though in competition with such classmates as Snyder, McAllister, Poe, Fitzhugh Lee, Guilford, Bailey, George D. Bayard, “Tony” Forsyth, Sprigg Carroll, Sanders, Vinton, and many others, who subsequently achieved great distinction in the service.
He bore his honors well, and was the model Adjutant of the day, distinguished for high military bearing, for strict attention to all points of discipline; but courteous withal, eminently popular in his class, and beloved in the Corps.
Upon being graduated, his highest hopes, in connection with his future military career, were gratified by his assignment to the Cavalry arm of the service. The then First Cavalry had been organized only during the previous year, with the ever gallant, noble E. V. Sumner at its head. From the Colonel to the Junior Second Lieutenant, every officer had been specially selected either on account of previous services, or for manifest fitness. From the completion of its organization, the military history of our nation cannot be written without mention of nearly every one of its officers.
Let us recall the names of a few of those best known and remembered to-day: Glorious old Sumner, Joe Johnston, John Sedgwick, Emory, McClellan, Sacket, T. J. Wood, Sturgis, McIntosh, Carr, Stanley, Frank Wheaton, “Jeb” Stuart, Colburn, George D. Bayard - a galaxy of names which should live as long as the profession of arms is honored in our country.
To this regiment Taylor was assigned, and he joined without delay. The times were favorable to young officers of spirit and ambition. The great western plains, from Dakota to Texas, were alive with hostile Indians, whose physical courage was of the highest order, as yet undaunted by the reverses of battle, and whose manhood had not been impaired by the vices of frontier civilization. To conquer a lasting peace from these people, constituted a continuous and exceedingly dangerous work for all our Cavalry during many years. Upon this work Taylor entered with a zeal and devotion which were conspicuous and unflagging. Within two short years from joining, while still a Junior Second Lieutenant, he became a marked man among the distinguished of his regiment. Three more years of the same character of service, full of professional experience, energy, and success to him, brought us to the outbreak of the late war, and gave Taylor a record at the War Department which ensured his promotion to one of the Senior Captaincies of the Sixth Cavalry, then being raised. He joined . his new regiment early in August, 1861, and entered upon the organization and instruction of his troop with characteristic zeal and energy. But, in those stirring days of our history, the pressing need of officers of knowledge, experience, and ability, would not long permit his retention as a Captain of Cavalry. In November following, upon urgent, special and personal application, he was assigned as Assistant Adjutant-General, and Chief-of-Staff to his old Colonel, Sumner, (now become a Major-General, and commanding one of the most important and famous divisions of the Army of the Potomac) than whom no one knew Taylor better, or appreciated him more highly. From that time his service with Sumner's Division, with the Second Corps, and the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, was recognized throughout that army as conspicuous, brilliant, and of the first order of military merit.
His varied services subsequent to the war, though comparatively inconspicuous, are known to the Army; and his brother officers need no reminder of them to feel assured that they were faithfully performed.
But his account is now closed. His record is written. At the War Department it is one of which the military service may well be proud. In the memory of his brother officers it is that of a gentleman of the most elevated sense of honor; a brilliant, gallant soldier; a sincere, faithful and beloved comrade. In the hearts of his family it is that of a dutiful son, a loving and tender husband, an affectionate and devoted father. His name will be remembered and honored in our Association so long as our well loved Alma Mater shall live."
A brief biographical entry is found in The Brewster Genealogy, 1566-1907, Volume 1, New York: The Grafton Press (1908), by Emma Brewster Jones, page 133 (public domain), transcribed below:
"Brevet Colonel Joseph Hancock Taylor, U. S. A., b. Jan. 25, 1836; d. at Omaha, Neb., March 13, 1885. A graduate of West Point, "who was several times promoted for gallantry in the Union Service during the Civil War.”
An obituary appears in The Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy: Annual Reunion, June 12th 1885, pages 98-100 (public domain), transcribed below:
"JOSEPH H. TAYLOR.
No. 1741. · CLASS OF 1856.
Died, March 13, 1885, at Omaha, Neb., aged 49.
JOSEPH HANCOCK Taylor entered the Military Academy July 1st, 1852, at the age of 16 years and 5 months, under an appointment "at large” from President Fillmore. He was the son of the late Commissary General Joseph P. Taylor, the nephew of President Zachary Taylor, and the grandson of Richard Taylor, who was a Captain in Patrick Henry's Virginia Regiment of the Revolution, later a Major of “Continentals.”
With such a lineage it might fairly be expected that the young cadet's highest aspirations in connection with his coming career at the Academy, would be largely in the direction of the purely military part of the course; and such was in fact the case. While his ambition did not lead him to aspire to high class honors, he nevertheless gave conscientious and faithful work to all branches of study included in the academic course, which secured him such class rank as fulfilled all his desires in that direction. But the dearest hope of his heart was to attain the military honors of his class—the Adjutancy. This was awarded to him by the academic authorities and by common consent of his class and the corps was regarded as deservedly won, though in competition with such classmates as Snyder, McAllister, Poe, Fitzhugh Lee, Guilford, Bailey, George D. Bayard, “Tony” Forsyth, Sprigg Carroll, Sanders, Vinton, and many others, who subsequently achieved great distinction in the service.
He bore his honors well, and was the model Adjutant of the day, distinguished for high military bearing, for strict attention to all points of discipline; but courteous withal, eminently popular in his class, and beloved in the Corps.
Upon being graduated, his highest hopes, in connection with his future military career, were gratified by his assignment to the Cavalry arm of the service. The then First Cavalry had been organized only during the previous year, with the ever gallant, noble E. V. Sumner at its head. From the Colonel to the Junior Second Lieutenant, every officer had been specially selected either on account of previous services, or for manifest fitness. From the completion of its organization, the military history of our nation cannot be written without mention of nearly every one of its officers.
Let us recall the names of a few of those best known and remembered to-day: Glorious old Sumner, Joe Johnston, John Sedgwick, Emory, McClellan, Sacket, T. J. Wood, Sturgis, McIntosh, Carr, Stanley, Frank Wheaton, “Jeb” Stuart, Colburn, George D. Bayard - a galaxy of names which should live as long as the profession of arms is honored in our country.
To this regiment Taylor was assigned, and he joined without delay. The times were favorable to young officers of spirit and ambition. The great western plains, from Dakota to Texas, were alive with hostile Indians, whose physical courage was of the highest order, as yet undaunted by the reverses of battle, and whose manhood had not been impaired by the vices of frontier civilization. To conquer a lasting peace from these people, constituted a continuous and exceedingly dangerous work for all our Cavalry during many years. Upon this work Taylor entered with a zeal and devotion which were conspicuous and unflagging. Within two short years from joining, while still a Junior Second Lieutenant, he became a marked man among the distinguished of his regiment. Three more years of the same character of service, full of professional experience, energy, and success to him, brought us to the outbreak of the late war, and gave Taylor a record at the War Department which ensured his promotion to one of the Senior Captaincies of the Sixth Cavalry, then being raised. He joined . his new regiment early in August, 1861, and entered upon the organization and instruction of his troop with characteristic zeal and energy. But, in those stirring days of our history, the pressing need of officers of knowledge, experience, and ability, would not long permit his retention as a Captain of Cavalry. In November following, upon urgent, special and personal application, he was assigned as Assistant Adjutant-General, and Chief-of-Staff to his old Colonel, Sumner, (now become a Major-General, and commanding one of the most important and famous divisions of the Army of the Potomac) than whom no one knew Taylor better, or appreciated him more highly. From that time his service with Sumner's Division, with the Second Corps, and the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, was recognized throughout that army as conspicuous, brilliant, and of the first order of military merit.
His varied services subsequent to the war, though comparatively inconspicuous, are known to the Army; and his brother officers need no reminder of them to feel assured that they were faithfully performed.
But his account is now closed. His record is written. At the War Department it is one of which the military service may well be proud. In the memory of his brother officers it is that of a gentleman of the most elevated sense of honor; a brilliant, gallant soldier; a sincere, faithful and beloved comrade. In the hearts of his family it is that of a dutiful son, a loving and tender husband, an affectionate and devoted father. His name will be remembered and honored in our Association so long as our well loved Alma Mater shall live."
"Brevet Colonel Joseph Hancock Taylor, U. S. A., b. Jan. 25, 1836; d. at Omaha, Neb., March 13, 1885. A graduate of West Point, "who was several times promoted for gallantry in the Union Service during the Civil War.”
An obituary appears in The Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy: Annual Reunion, June 12th 1885, pages 98-100 (public domain), transcribed below:
"JOSEPH H. TAYLOR.
No. 1741. · CLASS OF 1856.
Died, March 13, 1885, at Omaha, Neb., aged 49.
JOSEPH HANCOCK Taylor entered the Military Academy July 1st, 1852, at the age of 16 years and 5 months, under an appointment "at large” from President Fillmore. He was the son of the late Commissary General Joseph P. Taylor, the nephew of President Zachary Taylor, and the grandson of Richard Taylor, who was a Captain in Patrick Henry's Virginia Regiment of the Revolution, later a Major of “Continentals.”
With such a lineage it might fairly be expected that the young cadet's highest aspirations in connection with his coming career at the Academy, would be largely in the direction of the purely military part of the course; and such was in fact the case. While his ambition did not lead him to aspire to high class honors, he nevertheless gave conscientious and faithful work to all branches of study included in the academic course, which secured him such class rank as fulfilled all his desires in that direction. But the dearest hope of his heart was to attain the military honors of his class—the Adjutancy. This was awarded to him by the academic authorities and by common consent of his class and the corps was regarded as deservedly won, though in competition with such classmates as Snyder, McAllister, Poe, Fitzhugh Lee, Guilford, Bailey, George D. Bayard, “Tony” Forsyth, Sprigg Carroll, Sanders, Vinton, and many others, who subsequently achieved great distinction in the service.
He bore his honors well, and was the model Adjutant of the day, distinguished for high military bearing, for strict attention to all points of discipline; but courteous withal, eminently popular in his class, and beloved in the Corps.
Upon being graduated, his highest hopes, in connection with his future military career, were gratified by his assignment to the Cavalry arm of the service. The then First Cavalry had been organized only during the previous year, with the ever gallant, noble E. V. Sumner at its head. From the Colonel to the Junior Second Lieutenant, every officer had been specially selected either on account of previous services, or for manifest fitness. From the completion of its organization, the military history of our nation cannot be written without mention of nearly every one of its officers.
Let us recall the names of a few of those best known and remembered to-day: Glorious old Sumner, Joe Johnston, John Sedgwick, Emory, McClellan, Sacket, T. J. Wood, Sturgis, McIntosh, Carr, Stanley, Frank Wheaton, “Jeb” Stuart, Colburn, George D. Bayard - a galaxy of names which should live as long as the profession of arms is honored in our country.
To this regiment Taylor was assigned, and he joined without delay. The times were favorable to young officers of spirit and ambition. The great western plains, from Dakota to Texas, were alive with hostile Indians, whose physical courage was of the highest order, as yet undaunted by the reverses of battle, and whose manhood had not been impaired by the vices of frontier civilization. To conquer a lasting peace from these people, constituted a continuous and exceedingly dangerous work for all our Cavalry during many years. Upon this work Taylor entered with a zeal and devotion which were conspicuous and unflagging. Within two short years from joining, while still a Junior Second Lieutenant, he became a marked man among the distinguished of his regiment. Three more years of the same character of service, full of professional experience, energy, and success to him, brought us to the outbreak of the late war, and gave Taylor a record at the War Department which ensured his promotion to one of the Senior Captaincies of the Sixth Cavalry, then being raised. He joined . his new regiment early in August, 1861, and entered upon the organization and instruction of his troop with characteristic zeal and energy. But, in those stirring days of our history, the pressing need of officers of knowledge, experience, and ability, would not long permit his retention as a Captain of Cavalry. In November following, upon urgent, special and personal application, he was assigned as Assistant Adjutant-General, and Chief-of-Staff to his old Colonel, Sumner, (now become a Major-General, and commanding one of the most important and famous divisions of the Army of the Potomac) than whom no one knew Taylor better, or appreciated him more highly. From that time his service with Sumner's Division, with the Second Corps, and the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, was recognized throughout that army as conspicuous, brilliant, and of the first order of military merit.
His varied services subsequent to the war, though comparatively inconspicuous, are known to the Army; and his brother officers need no reminder of them to feel assured that they were faithfully performed.
But his account is now closed. His record is written. At the War Department it is one of which the military service may well be proud. In the memory of his brother officers it is that of a gentleman of the most elevated sense of honor; a brilliant, gallant soldier; a sincere, faithful and beloved comrade. In the hearts of his family it is that of a dutiful son, a loving and tender husband, an affectionate and devoted father. His name will be remembered and honored in our Association so long as our well loved Alma Mater shall live."
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