Short answers, pulled from the story.
Richard Taylor was born on the 27th of January, 1826 at Springfield plantation near Louisville in Kentucky. He spent his early life moving between frontier forts with his parents and five sisters.
Richard Taylor attended private schools in both Kentucky and Massachusetts before studying at Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut in 1845 after joining Skull and Bones social club.
The freeze of 1856 ruined Richard Taylor's sugar cane crop and forced him into debt with a large mortgage on the Fashion plantation. His mother-in-law Aglae Bringier financially aided him and his wife to recover from these losses.
Richard Taylor led timely assaults against strong enemy positions at the Battle of Front Royal on May 23, the First Battle of Winchester on May 25, and Port Republic on June 9. Stonewall Jackson used Taylor's brigade as an elite strike force during this campaign.
Richard Taylor surrendered his department at Citronelle, Alabama to U.S. General Edward Canby on the 4th of May 1865. He died on the 12th of April 1879 in New York City after remaining active in Democratic Party politics.