Born at Whitehall, New York in 1815, William Bliss, the son of John Bliss a West Point graduate and former Captain in the United States Army, entered the Academy in September of 1829 at the age of fifteen. Considered a prodigy in mathematics and linguistics Bliss graduated in 1833, ninth in a class of forty-three. His meticulous attention to detail and eloquent writing style earned him the nickname of "Perfect Bliss" by his classmates.
Commissioned a second lieutenant, Bliss declined an assignment in the Topographical Engineer Corps, preferring instead to join the US Fourth Infantry. Stationed at Fort Mitchell, Alabama, Bliss helped oversee land disputes between the Cherokee Nation and the state of Georgia. In October 1834, Bliss became an assistant professor of Mathematics at West Point. Promoted to first lieutenant in 1836 he became the Principal of the Department in June of 1837, a position he held until 1840. In 1839 Bliss received a promotion as brevet captain and assigned as Chief of Staff to Brigadier General Walker Keith Armistead, the commanding general in the Second Seminole Wars from June 1840 until May 1841. Later that year, General Winfield Scott assigned Bliss to General Zachary Taylor, a man known for his rudimentary education, dislike for written communiques, and gruff and home-spun personality manners. The intellectual Bliss became the counterweight to Taylor and wrote most if not all of Taylor’s correspondence from this point on. Bliss accompanied Taylor to the Grand Council of Indian tribes in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, in 1842, then to Fort Smith, Arkansas from 1842 to 1844, and Fort Jessup, Louisiana in 1844 and 1845.
In August 1845, Bliss became chief of staff to General Taylor, a position he held until January of 1849. Ordered to assemble a force to protect US interest in Texas, Taylor and the Army of Observation erected Fort Polk in Corpus Christi, Texas. In March 1846, Taylor moved his troops to the Rio Grande opposite Matamoras, and built Fort Texas. Fluent in six languages, including Spanish, Bliss served as interpreter and translator between General Taylor and his Mexican counterparts. Bliss became instrumental in negotiating prisoner exchanges, the capitulation of cities, and cease fire agreements. Bliss received a promotion to brevet major on May 9 following the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma and a captaincy in the Fourth Infantry in July 1846. After the Battle of Buena Vista, Bliss received a promotion to brevet lieutenant-colonel.
Following the U.S. – Mexico War, Bliss received a Master of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and in December of that year married Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the youngest daughter of his former commander and now president, Zachary Taylor. Bliss took leave of absence from the military and became Taylor’s personal secretary in 1849. Margaret Taylor, the president’s wife, took little interest in the functions of the White House and Mary Elizabeth became the unofficial First Lady during Taylor’s short Presidency.
In 1849, the state of New York presented Bliss with a gold medal for his actions at Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista. Although never officially in combat, Bliss hand carried messages from Taylor to subordinate officers during battles, reportedly having at least one horse shot out from underneath him in each of the engagements. Following the sudden death of President Taylor in July 1850, William and Mary Bliss accompanied Margaret Taylor to Pascagoula, Mississippi.
In July 1850, Bliss resumed his military career, assigned to the army’s Western Division in New Orleans as Adjutant General. He contracted yellow fever three years later. His body was later interred at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, which was renamed in his honor.
Bibliography
Bauer, K. Jack. Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the old Southwest. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985 <
Graham, Wm. H. The Life of Gen. Zachary Taylor and a History of Mexico giving an Account of the Battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista. New York: R. Craighead, 1847
Montgomery, Henry. The life of Major General Zachary Taylor. Buffalo: Derby & Hewson, 1847
The Mexican War and its heroes: being a complete history of the Mexican War, embracing all the operations under Generals Taylor and Scott, with a biography of the officers: also, an account of the conquest of California and New Mexico, under Gen. Kearney, Cols. Doniphan and Fremont, together with numerous anecdotes of the war, and personal adventures of the officers. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1858, ©1848.
Image Details
Date: ca. 1848
Description: Quarter-plate daguerrotype portrait of William Bliss next to Zachary Taylor (seated). Bliss was Taylor's army chief of staff. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; partial gift of the Quaker Oats Company. Object number NPG.77.142.
