In June 1847, Wood entered the Naval School in Annapolis (present-day the United States Naval Academy) for a brief preparatory course. After serving on the frigate Brandywine (Brazil station) and the ship of the line Ohio in the Pacific Ocean during the Mexican War, John reentered the Naval School on July 1, 1850 for five months' instruction and then, ordered to the sloop-of-war Germantown, saw service on the African coast. He returned to the renamed Naval Academy on October 1, 1852 and graduated on June 10, 1853, ranking second in his class.
In June 1847, Wood entered the Naval School in Annapolis (present-day the United States Naval Academy) for a brief preparatory course. After serving on the frigate Brandywine (Brazil station) and the ship of the line Ohio in the Pacific Ocean during the Mexican War, John reentered the Naval School on July 1, 1850 for five months' instruction and then, ordered to the sloop-of-war Germantown, saw service on the African coast. He returned to the renamed Naval Academy on October 1, 1852 and graduated on June 10, 1853, ranking second in his class.
John Taylor Wood was an American officer, who served in the United States Navy and the Confederate States Navy. After the American Civil War, he settled down in Halifax, Canada, where he was a merchant and lived there for the rest of his life.
Background
John Taylor Wood was born on August 13, 1830, in Fort Snelling, Iowa Territory, United States (present-day Fort Snelling, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States). He was a son of Anne Mackall (Taylor) Wood, a daughter of General Zachary Taylor and a sister of Jefferson Davis' first wife, and Robert Crooke Wood, an army surgeon, who, from 1862 to 1865, served as an assistant surgeon-general.
Education
In June 1847, Wood entered the Naval School in Annapolis (present-day the United States Naval Academy) for a brief preparatory course. After serving on the frigate Brandywine (Brazil station) and the ship of the line Ohio in the Pacific Ocean during the Mexican War, he was warranted a midshipman to rank from April 7, 1847. John reentered the Naval School on July 1, 1850 for five months' instruction and then, ordered to the sloop-of-war Germantown, saw service on the African coast. He returned to the renamed Naval Academy on October 1, 1852 and graduated on June 10, 1853, ranking second in his class.
After Wood's graduation from the United States Naval Academy, he served successively on the sloop-of-war Cumberland in the Mediterranean, as an assistant commandant at the Naval Academy, on the frigate Wabash, the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron and as an assistant instructor of naval tactics and nautical gunnery at the same Naval Academy. He was then, on September 15, 1855, warranted a master and promoted a lieutenant to date from September 16, 1855. Wood tendered his resignation on April 21, 1861, but was dismissed as of April 2, 1861, though he was actually on duty at the Academy for several days after April 21.
After residing on his farm in Maryland for a time, John was commissioned, as of October 4, 1861, a lieutenant in the Confederate Navy from Louisiana. Following a tour of duty in the naval shore batteries in Evansport, Potomac River, he served on ironclad Virginia (Merrimack), participating in the victory at Hampton Roads, on March 8-9, 1862, in the rout of the Monitor and consorts on April 11 and May 8, 1862, as well as in the repulse of the enemy at Drewry's Bluff, Virginia, on May 15, 1862. In October 1862, Wood conducted the first of his famous midnight expeditions, capturing and burning the schooner Frances Elmor off Bluff Point on the Potomac River and the ship Alleghanian in the Chesapeake Bay.
On January 26, 1863, Wood was appointed naval aide-de-camp to President Davis (the appointment was confirmed on February 9) with the statutory rank and pay of colonel of cavalry. In this capacity, he made frequent inspections of naval defenses and ship constructions and served as liaison officer between the army and the navy. His adventurous spirit was not content with staff duty, however, and in August 1863, he organized another expedition in the Chesapeake, which resulted in the capture of the United States war schooners Satellite and Reliance (after severe hand-to-hand fighting) and the transport schooners Golden Rod, Coquette and Two Brothers. For this exploit, he received the thanks of Congress and promotion to commander.
In a third boat expedition in February 1864, Wood captured and destroyed the Federal gunboat Underwriter in New Bern, North Carolina. In April 1864, he participated in the successful siege of Plymouth, North Carolina, and in August commanded the steam sloop Tallahassee on a raid, extending from Wilmington to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and back, during which he captured thirty-three vessels, destroyed twenty-six vessels and released five on ransom bond and two without bond. For this exploit, on February 10, 1865, he was given a captaincy.
In April-May, 1865, Wood was with President Davis in the retreat from Richmond, but managed to escape through Florida to Cuba. He enjoyed the special confidence of General Lee and of the entire navy, and his brilliant accomplishments compelled the praise of the enemy.
After the war, Wood settled in Halifax, Canada, where he became a merchant, engaged in shipping and marine insurance, and there died.
Achievements
Personality
Wood was modest in deportment, but executed his boldly conceived plans with skill and daring.
Connections
Wood married Lola (Mackubin) Wood on November 26, 1856. Their marriage produced eleven children. Zachary Taylor Wood (1860-1915), the couple's eldest son, became Acting Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner and Commissioner of the Yukon Territory, serving from 1902 to 1903. Among John and Lola's other children were Lola M. Wood, Eleanor MacKubin Wood Campbell, George MacKubin Wood, Blandina Von Grabow Wood and Charles Carroll Wood.
Father:
Robert Crooke Wood
Mother:
Anne Mackall (Taylor) Wood
child:
Zachary Taylor Wood
child:
Lola M. Wood
child:
Eleanor MacKubin Wood Campbell
child:
George MacKubin Wood
child:
Blandina Von Grabow Wood
child:
Charles Carroll Wood
Wife:
Lola (Mackubin) Wood
Grandfather:
Zachary Taylor
Uncle:
Jefferson Davis
References
Confederate Seadog: John Taylor Wood in War and Exile
This work combines a thorough biography of John Taylor Wood and three of his memoirs, that were published in Century magazine between 1885 and 1898. The biography gives special attention to Wood's childhood and youth, such as his harrowing experiences in Florida during the Seminole Wars, his service in the United States Navy during and after the Mexican War, his experiences in California during the Gold Rush and his leading role among the members of the little-known postwar Confederate naval colony in Halifax, Nova Scotia, organized to fight the Fenian forces for the British in 1866.