Thomas John Wood (September 25, 1823 – February 26, 1906) was a career

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer. He served in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and as a Union

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. During the Mexican–American War, Wood served on the staff of General

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

and later joined the 2nd

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

s. During the Civil War, he participated in many battles in the Western Theater. Wood commanded a division at the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 18–20, 1863, between the United States Army and Confederate States Army, Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a U.S. Army offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southe ...

in September 1863, during which time he chose to obey a questionable order from commanding general William S. Rosecrans to reposition his division. In doing so, Wood opened a gap in the Union lines, which contributed to the defeat of the Federal forces in the battle and their subsequent retreat. Wood and his division took part in the successful Union assault in the

Battle of Missionary Ridge The Battle of Missionary Ridge, also known as the Battle of Chattanooga, was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union Army, Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on ...

in November during the

Chattanooga Campaign The Chattanooga campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War. Following the defeat of Major general (United States), Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army, Union Army of the C ...

. He also commanded the IV Corps of the Army of the Cumberland during the

Battle of Nashville The Battle of Nashville was a two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign that represented the end of large-scale fighting west of the coastal states in the American Civil War. It was fought at Nashville, Tennessee, on December 15–16, 18 ...

in December 1864.

Early life and career

Wood was born in rural Munfordville, Kentucky, the son of George Twyman Wood, an army officer, and Elizabeth Helm (through his mother, he was a cousin of Confederate general Benjamin H. Helm). He was an 1845 graduate of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, finishing 5th in a class of 41 cadets. He was commissioned as a brevet second lieutenant Topographical Engineers in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

on 1 July 1845. In 1846, Wood joined General

's staff for a few months as the

erupted, and saw his first action at the Battle of Palo Alto on 8 May 1846. He soon transferred at his request to U.S. 2nd

s and received a brevet First Lieutenant for "gallant and meritorious conduct" at the

Battle of Buena Vista The Battle of Buena Vista (February 22–23, 1847), known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, was a battle of the Mexican–American War. It was fought between U.S. forces, largely vol ...

in February 1847. After the war, he served in a succession of cavalry postings on the open

frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...

in the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

, including service in the Sioux Expedition of 1855 and the Kansas Disturbances of 1856–57. Wood traveled in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from 1859 until early 1861 on a leave of absence from the army.

Civil War

During early days of the Civil War, Wood helped organize, train, and equip several volunteer regiments in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. In October 1861, he was promoted to brigadier general of Indiana volunteers. The following month, he married Caroline E. Greer of

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. Wood commanded a brigade in the Tennessee and Mississippi campaigns at the beginning of the war. He commanded a division in the

Army of the Ohio The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union Army, Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863. History 1st Army of the Ohio General Orders No. 97 appointed ...

, then in the Army of the Cumberland. Wood was present at the second day of the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the American Civil War fought on April 6–7, 1862. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater of the ...

. Wood was wounded during the Battle of Murfreesboro in December 1862 but refused to leave the field until the fighting was over. Wood's division was credited with holding the apex of the Federal line on the Nashville Turnpike against heavy Confederate attacks. He suffered controversy at the

, where he was blamed for contributing to William S. Rosecrans's defeat. On September 20, 1863, a breakdown in situational awareness by Rosecrans and poor staff work resulted in Wood receiving a seemingly senseless order that, if literally obeyed, required him to pull his division out of the line to the support of another division further to his left, dangerously creating an unprotected gap in the right of the line. Instead of verifying his commander's actual intent, Wood elected to regard the order as imperative and moved his division out of its position. Historian Peter Cozzens wrote: Less than 30 minutes after Wood moved his division, Confederate Lt. Gen.

James Longstreet James Longstreet (January 8, 1821January 2, 1904) was a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War and was the principal subordinate to General Robert E. Lee, who called him his "Old War Ho ...

's men poured through the resulting gap and cut Rosecrans's army in two. Rosecrans was eventually relieved from command of the Army of the Cumberland following this Union defeat, while Wood retained his division. Cozzens finds fault with Wood "for letting petty bitterness get the better of him" and Rosecrans for "not checking the order to make sure it reflected his intent. Rosey was tired and it showed." Wood redeemed himself during the successful assault on Missionary Ridge in November and at the Battle of Lovejoy's Station on August 20, 1864, where despite a badly shattered leg, he stayed on the field encouraging his men. At Missionary Ridge, Wood's division was the first division to reach the rebel positions atop the heights and the first division to drive defenders from their fortifications. He commanded the IV Corps of the Army of the Cumberland at the

, and pursued

John Bell Hood John Bell Hood (June 1 or June 29, 1831 – August 30, 1879) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Hood's impetuosity led to high losses among his troops as he moved up in rank. Bruce Catton wrote that "the decision to replace ...

's Confederates after the Union victory. President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

appointed Wood to the grade of major general of volunteers on February 22, 1865, to rank from January 27, 1865.Eicher, p. 706 On February 14, 1865, the U.S. Senate had confirmed the President's January 30, 1865 nomination of Wood's appointment. Wood was mustered out of the volunteers on September 1, 1866.

Postbellum career and death

After the Confederates surrendered, Wood was assigned to duty in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

with the occupation army. Frustrated with administrative duty with the

Freedmen's Bureau The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. government agency of early post American Civil War Reconstruction, assisting freedmen (i.e., former enslaved people) in the ...

and the politics of

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

, he retired from the service in June 1868, having achieved the same rank in the

regular army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

. His war wounds prevented him from achieving his desire of returning to active duty on the frontier. Wood moved to Dayton and became active in the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

, a social organization for Union Army veterans. He also served as a member of the board of visitors at the U.S. Military Academy and was a companion of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or, simply, the Loyal Legion, is a United States military order organized on April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Union Army. The original membership was consisted ...

. In 1892 he became a Veteran Member of the

Aztec Club of 1847 The Aztec Club of 1847 is a military society founded in 1847 by United States Army officers of the Mexican–American War. It is a male-only hereditary organization with membership of those who can trace a direct ancestral connection "based on ma ...

. When he died in 1906, Wood was the last survivor of his West Point class.

References

Notes Bibliography * * Cullum, George (1879). ''Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy from 1802-1867'', volume 2. New York: J. Miller. Pages 115–16. * Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . * Warner, Ezra (1964). ''Generals in Blue: Lives of Union Commanders''. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Thomas J. 1823 births 1906 deaths Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Union army generals People of Kentucky in the American Civil War People of Ohio in the American Civil War United States Military Academy alumni People from Munfordville, Kentucky American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Members of the Aztec Club of 1847 Burials at West Point Cemetery Indiana Democrats 19th-century American politicians

Early life and career

Civil War

Postbellum career and death

See also

References

External links