John Taylor Wood

John Taylor Wood (August 13, 1830 – July 19, 1904) was an officer in the United States Navy and the Confederate Navy. He resigned from the U.S. Navy at the beginning of the American Civil War, and became a "leading Confederate naval hero" as a captain in the Confederate Navy. He was a lieutenant serving aboard when it engaged in 1862, one of the most famous naval battles in Civil War and U.S. Naval history. He was caught in 1865 in Georgia with Confederate President Jefferson Davis's party, but escaped and made his way to Cuba.

Wood was born on August 13, 1830, at Fort Snelling then in the Northwest Territory near present-day St. Paul, Minnesota. Wood was delivered by his father and is claimed to have been the first white child born in Minnesota. From 1832 until 1837, the Wood family lived at Fort Crawford located at the junction of the Mississippi and Wisconsin Rivers. Young Wood grew up in the frontier at the time of the Black Hawk War. after getting his first assignments in the Navy. He and his wife had eleven children. Zachary Taylor Wood (1860–1915), the oldest son, became Acting Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner and Commissioner of the Yukon Territory from 1902 to 1903. Charles Carroll Wood (b. 1876 – d. 1899), the youngest son, graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada 1896 (student #352). He served as a lieutenant for Canada in the Boer War and died in battle in 1899. He is memorialized on the Royal Military College Memorial Arch and the South African War Memorial (Halifax).

Military career

Wood became a U.S. Navy midshipman on April 7, 1847. He joined the crew of the frigate which sailed to Brazil. Soon after he transferred to and sailed for the west coast of Mexico in 1847. Soon after arriving off the Mexican port of Mazzatan later that year Wood joined a thousand-sailor force that landed to capture the port city where he first experienced combat while commanding a gun crew. At the end of the Mexican War in 1848, Wood returned to Ohio and saw service in the newly acquired California territory during the gold rush. After serving at sea on Ohio for three years, Wood's ship returned to Boston where he was given a three-month leave of absence. During his time aboard Ohio, Zachary Taylor had become president.

Suppression of African slave trade

Wood served at sea during the last part of the Mexican–American War, performing shore duty as a Naval Academy officer. During the last part of the war he sailed off the coast of Africa suppressing the African slave trade and in the Mediterranean. He served aboard patrolling in the Gulf of Guinea when it captured a Spanish slave ship. His first command of a ship occurred when he was ordered to bring the captured Africans to Liberia and set them free. He was responsible for his ship, his crew, and three hundred and fifty prisoners. The voyage lasted three weeks and was pitted against stormy seas but Wood succeeded in reaching Monrovia with his ship and passengers intact. The authorities in Liberia denied Wood the right to land his human cargo in the capital and he was forced on another one hundred and fifty mile voyage to Grand Bassa. Once again Wood was confronted by governmental authorities and was told he could not land his cargo of captured and would be slaves. However, this time he did not comply, asserted his authority, and landed his human cargo. Wood returned to Porpoise and at age 21 had gained confidence as a commander from the experience.

Other service

Wood graduated second in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1852. He then went on to serve on on voyage about the Mediterranean which last two years. Cumberland was a ship that he would later fight against as a Confederate officer in the American Civil War. After returning to Annapolis, Maryland in September 1855, he received promotion to lieutenant. Wood returned to Maryland and met Lola Mackubin, daughter of a prominent Maryland politician. They were married on November 26, 1856. Their daughter, Anne, was born on September 18, 1857.

thumb|left|Wood in his later years

Following service with shore batteries on the Potomac River, he became an officer in the newly converted ironclad CSS Virginia serving under Commander Buchanan. He was wounded in the Battle of Hampton Roads.

In May 1862, after Virginia was destroyed, Wood assisted with the defense of Drewry's Bluff, on the James River. During the next two years, Wood led several successful raids against Federal ships and also served as naval aide to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Promoted to commander in May 1863, he simultaneously held the rank of colonel in the cavalry. These dual ranks, with his reputation for extraordinary daring and his family connections to Confederate leaders, allowed him to play an important liaison role between the South's army, navy and civil government.

In August 1864, Wood commanded , a Confederate commerce raider and blockade runner against U.S. shipping off the Atlantic coast, capturing an astonishing 33 Union ships during a ten-day period off the coast of New England. He received the rank of captain in February 1865. A few months later, as the Confederacy was disintegrating, he accompanied President Davis in his attempt to evade capture and leave the country.

Though briefly taken prisoner, Wood escaped to Cuba. He subsequently went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he became a businessman. His wife and family joined him there, and they lived the rest of their lives in Nova Scotia. Wood died there on July 19, 1904. His obituary appeared in the New York Times the next day.

Legacy

Tallahassee Avenue, Tallahassee Elementary School, and Taylorwood Lane in Eastern Passage are named for Wood and his ship. *

References

Bibliography

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Other sources

External links

Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Photographs of John Taylor Wood's tombstone, Halifax, Nova Scotia