Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-04-19
CONFEDERATE ExILES.e
Omcers of the Southern Navy Who
Sought Refuge Abroad at the
Close of the Civil War.

W. F. Clayton, of Florence, S. c.,
who served under Commander John
Taylor Wood in the confederate navy,
takes exception to a recent statement
in reference to the death in the Brit
ish army in South Africa. of Robert
Wood, son of his old commander, in
which it is intimated that Commander
Wood went to Canada atthe end of the
civil war because of hate of the Yam
KEGS" Mr.. Clayton SAYS in an inter
esting interview on this subject:
NO man in the confederacy made q
better record than did John Taylor
Wood. He was an officer of the Merri-
mac, in the fight with the Monitor. He
was at Drewry's Bluff when the
United States fleet was driven back
and Richmond saved. He commanded
the ships boats that captured the
United States gunboats Satellite and
Reliance on the Rappahanock river;
also the expedition which, with IL
boats and 160 men, captured and
burned the United States gunboat I'm
derwriter at Newbern, n. C. This YES
sci mounted eight guns and carried a
crew of IT'S officers and men. After
ward incommand of blockade steam
er, improvised as war vessel, he raw
aged the coast of New England, de-
stroying its fishing fleets and coastwise
trade. When Richmond was evac-
uated he was with a naval brigade, and
at Sailors creek, one of the hardest
fought and last battles of the war, he
LED his men.
when the war was over Commander
Wood, like most of our boys, found
himself financially aground. sail
or's life units one for land duties.
hence they as Class stood poor show
in the competition for existence. The
animosities engendered by the politi-
clans after the collapse of the confe5-
eracy made the naval officers fate par
ticularly hard. The English people
having sympathized with the confed-
eracy. and the doctrine of prescription
prevailing in the United States, many
Of the navy and army. sought refnge
abroad. Thus it was that Commander
j. Taylor Wood found a better rerep-
ton in Canada than he would have re-
ceived in New York or other northern
cities. And in the south all was de-
struction. It was not a question OF
hate with these veterans; probably
more a question of bread. Brave men
never hate.
John Taylor Wood was not the only
one of the gallant officers of the con-
federate states navy who sought an
asylum in foreign land. John R. Tuck
er, who commanded the Patrick Henry
in the Hampton Roads fight and was
afterward commander of the naval de-
lenses of Charleston, became admiral
- n y -,
between Spain and Peru and Chill
saved the cities of Callao and Valpa-
raise by sailing with his fleet to the
Philippines, thus throwing off the
Spanish feet. The Bullochs, of Geor-
gia, father and son, found remuner-
ative business in Liverpool, and have
remained there and that syonng and
gallant lieutenant of the navy, a. N
Mason, became a pasta in the zkhe-
dives service and was the last Iasha.
officer retained. dying a few years ago
in Washington, in some represen tative
capacity for the Egyptian government.
Other officers of the confederate navy
sought their fortunes abroad. but in
every case / am convinced it was neces-
sity and not hate that exiled them.
"When the wars tocsin sounded in.
1861 no class of people quilted their al-
legiance to the United States with
more reluctance than the naval or
GERS. and the venom and partisansh1p
of reconstruction marked them for
especial vengeance. The consequences
was that many became exiles from me-
cessity, but in the secret recssses Of
their bosom are photographed the
scenes of early years and the love OF
their country. They are incapable OF
hate as applied to their government,
and at heart they are Americans"
Noted Living Ex-Confederates.
Forth Carolina can still count MP
kl no,,fraaxoka