The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-08-10

lieutenant promoted TO commander,
I ; n, tDr gallant conduct, August
-, l913 Served on G. S. S. Nir-
ginIA, Nerrimac,) and participated in
battles Of Hampton Roads. March S
and >. 1862 Participated in battle Of
Drewry s Bluff, May 10. 1862. Com
mandcd expedition that boarded and
captured the L. $. gunboats Satellite
ana Reliance, in the Rappahannock
River, August %, 1863. Commanded
expedition that captured and burned
the |. 5. gunboat Underwater. at
Ncwbern, y. c., February 3, 1864.
Commanded cruiser Tallahassee, d
converted blockade runner, and ran
out Of the port Of Wilmington, \. c.,
deprecated upon American commerce
from that point to the coast of New
tonnt!and, destroy ing several ships in
slE.t OF Sandy Hook, y. Y, and re.
turLcl to Wilmington in safety.
And now the last entry as secretary
| make is, died at Halifax, Nova
Scotia, July l2t. 1904, aged II
years.
!! sucn an expression can be used
il q republic JOHN Taylor Wood came
o royM hlo.l Iji- grandfather,
Zachary Fayio, wa President Of the
| ni,ri state, aud Ei, uncle, Jptfer-
sen bA7i was I'fc,l;:c.. of the Con
ieaeratc S:ntc- His father was sur
geon genera. 0: either the army or
Eavy when tic war broke out, in 1861,
and remained North.
Commander Woods was retiring and
modest in his disposition, uuict and
easy IN lis manners, but in action a
lion. la our estimation he was 10 the
navy what Stonewall Jackson was to
the army, ever on the alert to strike
the enemy blow, and his plans so
matured and kept secret that every
blow he struck resulted in victory.
He was a conscientious Christian. a
member Of the Episcopal Church.
Never while memory lasts shall we
forget the prayer he offered just as we
went into action in the expedition
that resulted in the capture of the
Underwater.
Out in the bay, several miles from
Newbern, he called his ten boats to-
gcther, and with hats off we all stood.
officers and men, while he pleaded fo.
Divine blessing upon our expedition
and especially did he beseech /.
Heaven mercy for those who should
fall.
Never in my life was 1 more i'm
pressed by prayer. In chat fight we
lost two officers, and seven men killed
and ten wounded out of $50, all told.
We captured the ship and burned her
under the guns Of large fortress,
and the Underwater, carrying four
heavy guns and crew Of one hundred
men
When the State of Virginia seeded
Wood resigned his position in the
United States navy and rendered his
services to Governor Letcher, who as
signed him to battery on the Poto-
mac River, there being at that time no
ships, and while on that service he
matured his plans which bore fruit
afterwards. He was a lieutenant on
the Virginia, AMI afterwards at Drew
rvs Bluff, and after that time he was
given rowing commission.
His first independent command con-
sisted of two ships cutters and thirty
men, with six officers. With these he
proceeded down the Rappahannock
River and attacked and captured the
gunboat Satellite, carrying one gun
and crew of thirty five men, and the
gunboat Reliance, sister ship, both
doing guard boat service at the mouth
of the river. In this fight he lost
none Of his crew killed, though several
were wounded, and he succeeded in
bringing his prizes ana prisoners up
to or near Fredericksburg.
1t was for this action that he was
promoted to be commander. After
that be, with one boat, captured a
large merchant ship in the Potomac,
and after saving mos. of her cargo,
very valuable to the Confederacy,
burned her. He also captured ancth-
er ship in the Chesapeake, but finding
she was owned entirely in Baltim ore i,
he released her, some of her owners
being Southern sympathizers.
After some torpedo service he or.
ganized the expedition that was to ao-
company Gen, Pickett in bis attempt
to regain Eastern North Carolina