Louise Marie Myrthe Bringier (d. 1875), a native of Louisiana and daughter of wealthy French Creole matriarch Aglae Bringier and her husband. Steadily Taylor added acreage to the plantation and improved its sugar works at considerable expense; he also expanded its labor force to nearly 200 slaves. He became one of the wealthiest men in Louisiana for his holdings. The freeze of 1856 ruined his crop, forcing him into debt with a large mortgage on the plantation. His mother-in-law Aglae Bringier financially aided Taylor and his wife. In 1855, Taylor entered local politics. He was elected to the Louisiana State Senate, in which he served until 1861. First affiliated with the Whig Party, he shifted to the American (Know Nothing) Party, and finally joined the Democratic Party. He was sent to the first Democratic Convention of 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina, as a state delegate. There he witnessed the splintering of the Democrats. While in Charleston, he tried to work out a compromise between the two Democratic factions, but his attempts failed. American Civil War When the American Civil War erupted, Taylor was asked by Confederate General Braxton Bragg to assist him, as a civilian aide-de-camp without pay, at Pensacola, Florida. Bragg had known Taylor from before the war, and thought his knowledge of military history could help him to organize and train the Confederate forces. Taylor had been opposed to secession, but accepted the appointment. While training recruits, Taylor received news that he was commissioned as a colonel of the 9th Louisiana Infantry. The members of the 9th Louisiana voted for Taylor because they thought that with Taylor's connections to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who was widower of his late sister Sarah, the unit would be sent out sooner and see battle more quickly. On July 20, he arrived in Richmond with his regiment and received orders from LeRoy Pope Walker, Confederate States Secretary of War, to board the train and move to Manassas to take part in the First Battle of Manassas; the 9th Louisiana arrived at Manassas Junction hours after the battle was won by the Confederacy. On October 21, 1861, Taylor was promoted to brigadier general, commanding a Louisiana brigade under Richard S. Ewell in the Shenandoah Valley campaign led by Stonewall Jackson. During the Valley Campaign, Jackson used Taylor's brigade as an elite strike force that set a rapid marching pace and dealt swift flanking