John Taylor Wood

John Taylor Wood
John Taylor Wood
	John Taylor Wood
Born	August 13, 1830; Fort Snelling, Michigan Territory, United States
Died	July 19, 1904 (aged 73); Nova Scotia, Canada
Allegiance	United States of America; Confederate States of America
Service/branch	United States Navy; Confederate States Navy; Confederate States Army
Years of service	1847–1861 (USN); 1861–1865 (CSN)
Rank	Lieutenant (USN); Captain (CSN); Colonel
Battles/wars	American Civil War
Relations	Zachary Taylor (grandfather)

John Taylor Wood (August 13, 1830 – July 19, 1904) was an officer in 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.^[1] He was a lieutenant serving aboard CSS Virginia when it engaged USS Monitor in 1862,^[2] one of the most famous naval battles in Civil War and U.S. Naval history.^[3] He was caught in 1865 in Georgia with Confederate President Jefferson Davis' party, but escaped and made his way to Cuba.^[3] From there, he got to Halifax, Nova Scotia

, where he settled and became a merchant. His wife and children joined him there, and more children were born in Canada, which is where he lived out the remainder of his life.

Early life

John Taylor Wood was the son and first child of

U.S. Army. Along with being the grandson of a U.S. president, John Taylor Wood was also the nephew of future Confederate president Jefferson Davis, whose first wife, Sarah Knox Taylor (1814–1835), was the second daughter of Zachary Taylor and Margaret Mackall Smith.^[5]

Wood was born on August 13, 1830,[4] 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.^[6] 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.^[4]

Marriage and family

Wood married Lola Mackubin in 1856,

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

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.^[6]

Wood served for a time aboard Ohio alongside William Hall and later supported Hall's US Navy pension claim.^[8]

Suppression of African slave trade

Wood served at sea during the last part of the

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.^[6]^[9]

Other service

Wood graduated second in his class from the

U.S. Naval Academy in 1852. He then went on to serve on USS Cumberland 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.^[7] In 1858 he served as a gunnery officer for eighteen months aboard USS Wabash.^[7] His infant daughter died in 1859 while he was in service.^[6]

Civil War

Lieutenant Wood taught gunnery tactics at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, at the beginning of the Civil War. Due to his southern sympathies, he resigned his commission on April 2, 1861, and took up farming nearby. He later went to

Confederate States Navy by October and assigned to CSS Virginia in November.^[10]

Following service with shore

ironclad CSS Virginia serving under Commander Buchanan. He was wounded in the Battle of Hampton Roads.^[2]^[6] Wood commanded the stern pivot gun during the battle and fired the shot that seriously wounded Lieutenant John Lorimer Worden, captain of Monitor.^[12]

In May 1862, after Virginia was destroyed, Wood assisted with the defense of

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 CSS Tallahassee, 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.^[13]^[14]^[15] 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

New York Times the next day.^[6] He is buried in Halifax's Camp Hill Cemetery.^[16]

Legacy

Tallahassee Avenue, Tallahassee Elementary School, and Taylorwood Lane in Eastern Passage are named for Wood and his ship. * [17]

References

^ Bell, 2002, p.68
^ ^a ^b ^c Bell, 2002, p.1
^ ^a ^b Bell, 2002, p.41
^ ^a ^b ^c Bell, 2002, p.12
^ Bell, 2002, p.20
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Winstead, 2009
^ ^a ^b ^c Bell, 2002, p.19
^ States, David W. "William Hall VC of Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia Nineteenth Century Naval Hero",
Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Vol. 44,
^ Bell, 2002, p.18
^ Field, 2011, p. 35
^ Bell, 2002, p.22
^ Field, 2011, pp. 35, 37
^ Symonds, 2009, p.84
^ Bell, 2002, pp.62, 67
^ Tucker, 2006, p.293
^ Bell, 2002, p.64
^ Halifax Street Names; An Illustrated Guide. p. 148

Bibliography

Bell, John (2002). Confederate Seadog: John Taylor Wood in War and Exile.
McFarland. p. 178.
ISBN 9780786413522., Book (par view)

Butler, Lindley S. (2000). Pirates, Privateers, & Rebel Raiders of the Carolina Coast.
UNC Press Books. p. 275.
ISBN 9780807848630., Book (par view)

Field, Ron (2011). Confederate Ironclad vs Union Ironclad: Hampton Roads.
Osprey Publishing. p. 80.
ISBN 9781780961415., Book (par view)

Fuller, Howard J (2008). Clad in Iron: The American Civil War and the Challenge of British Naval Power.
Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 409.
ISBN 978-1-59114-297-3
.

ISBN 9780820304663., Book (no view)

Symonds, Craig L. (2009). The Civil War at Sea.
ABC-CLIO.
ISBN 9780275990848., Book (par view)

Tucker, Spencer (2006). Blue & gray navies: the Civil War afloat.
Naval Institute Press, Maryland. p. 426.
ISBN 1-59114-882-0. Url

Other sources

Winstead, Tim (2009). "John Taylor Wood: Man of Action, Man of Honor".
Wilmington, North Carolina: The Cape Fear Civil War Round Table. Retrieved Oct 7, 2013.

External links

Works by John Taylor Wood at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about John Taylor Wood at Internet Archive
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
Photographs of John Taylor Wood's tombstone, Halifax, Nova Scotia

[1] Bell, 2002, p.68

[Bell1-2] Bell, 2002, p.1

[Bell,_2002,_p.41-3] Bell, 2002, p.41

[Bell12-4] Bell, 2002, p.12

[5] Bell, 2002, p.20

[TWinstead-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Winstead, 2009

[Bell19-7] Bell, 2002, p.19

[8] States, David W. "William Hall VC of Horton Bluff, Nova Scotia Nineteenth Century Naval Hero",
Collections of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society Vol. 44,

[9] Bell, 2002, p.18

[Field35-10] Field, 2011, p. 35

[11] Bell, 2002, p.22

[12] Field, 2011, pp. 35, 37

[13] Symonds, 2009, p.84

[14] Bell, 2002, pp.62, 67

[15] Tucker, 2006, p.293

[16] Bell, 2002, p.64

[17] Halifax Street Names; An Illustrated Guide. p. 148

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