Taylor, Creed

Creed Taylor, soldier and Texas Ranger, was born on April 20, 1820, in Alabama, one of nine children of Josiah and Hepzibeth (Luker) Taylor. Josiah Taylor, a relative of Gen. Zachary Taylor, came to Texas in 1811 and served as captain in the Gutiérrez-Magee expedition; he fought at La Bahía, Alazán, Rosales, and Medina. He brought his family, including four-year-old Creed, to Texas in 1824 and settled in DeWitt’s colony. At fifteen, Creed Taylor helped defend the Gonzales “come and take it” cannon and took part in the battle of Concepción, the Grass Fight, and the Siege of Bexar. Late in January 1836 he was with the Texas forces at San Patricio; he was placed on detached duty as a scout or courier until March 1, 1836, when he was ordered to join Col. James C. Neill in Gonzales. After the fall of the Alamo, Taylor led his mother and family to safety in the Runaway Scrape. He then caught up with the Texas army at Buffalo Bayou on April 20 and fought in the battle of San Jacinto the next day. In 1840 Taylor took part in the battle of Plum Creek against the Comanches with Daniel B. Friar’s company. In 1841 he joined the Texas Rangers and fought Indians with John Coffee Hays at Bandera Pass; the following year he was wounded in the battle of Salado Creek. In the Mexican War he enlisted as a private in Capt. Samuel H. Walker’s company of Texas Mounted Rangers, which mustered into federal service on April 21, 1846. Taylor fought at the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterrey, and Buena Vista. He enlisted in the Confederate Army on February 13, 1864, in Col. John S. (Rip) Ford’s command. He dictated his recollections to James T. DeShields, who published them in 1935 in Tall Men with Long Rifles. Taylor died on December 26, 1906, and was buried in Noxville Cemetery, where the Texas Centennial Commission set up a marker in his honor in 1936. The same year the commission erected a monument in Cuero honoring DeWitt County pioneers. Taylor is mentioned twice: as a soldier in the Texas army in 1836 and as a participant in the battle of the Salado in 1842.

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