The following was found recenyly in the July 29, 2002 issue of U.S. World News and Report and is being sent as additional information only to a discussion held recently on this list. He Really Was Rough and Ready Hungry for ancient and obscure dirt on one of the least-known presidents? Illinois Heritage magazine reports the 1814 indictment of an Army major, Zachariah Taylor, for assault and battery in the beating "with force and arms" of one Simon Bartrane. Taylor's Army unit, while on a war of 1812 mission, was ambushed on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River by Indians, apparently as a result of a tip from some men from France. Presumably, Bartrane was one of the Frenchmen, and the beating, which nearly claimed his life, was a payback. Historians at the Illinois State Archives spent months establishing that Zachariah Taylor was the career soldier known in history books as Zachary Taylor, the Mexican War hero who became the 12th president. Nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready" because of his battlefield prowess, he served the third-shortest White House stay ever, dying in 1850 after barely 16 months in office. The old but newly uncovered record shows that the assault charge was dismissed. - Lewis Lord --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.381 / Virus Database: 214 - Release Date: 8/2/02