Education
He was educated at the Lewisburg Academy, the military school taught by Colonel John Bowie Strange, and the Bloomfield Academy.
He was educated at the Lewisburg Academy, the military school taught by Colonel John Bowie Strange, and the Bloomfield Academy.
Woods began life in Albemarle County, Virginia. Woods joined the Confederate Army in August 1861 at the age of seventeen, a volunteer on the staff of John B. Floyd. Under military age, he spent the winter of 1861-1862 at the University of Virginia and then joined the 2nd Virginia Cavalry.
In 1863, he became a First Lieutenant in Thomas East. Jackson"s Battery, Virginia Horse Artillery, and saw action at Gettysburg, New Market, and Cold Harbor.
After the war Woods returned to the University and earned a Bachelor of Law degree in 1868. He practiced in Charlottesville and became Commonwealth"s Attorney in 1870.
Woods served as president of The Virginia Bar Association in 1909.
In 1872 he was made a member of the board of visitors of the University of Virginia, a position which he held for four years, at the time of his appointment being the youngest member of the board ever selected. He was a member of the board of visitors of Virginia Technical in 1911.