John Taylor Wood

author

John Taylor Wood

1830–1904

A U.S. naval officer who cast his lot with the Confederacy during the Civil War, he went on to become one of its best-known naval figures. After the war, his life took another turn in exile before he eventually settled in Canada.

1 Audiobook

Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War

Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War

by Basil Wilson Duke, Thomas Henry Hines, Frank E. Moran, William Pittenger, A. E. (Adolphus Edwards) Richards, W. H. (William Henry) Shelton, Orlando B. Willcox, John Taylor Wood

About the author

Born in 1830 into a well-connected American family, John Taylor Wood served first in the United States Navy. When the Civil War began, he resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Navy, where he earned a reputation for daring service and rose to the rank of captain.

During the war he took part in several important naval operations and became closely associated with Confederate President Jefferson Davis through family ties as well as military service. In the final days of the Confederacy, he was among the small group that accompanied Davis during his flight south.

After the war, Wood escaped the United States and eventually made a new life in Canada. He died in 1904, leaving behind a story that moves from the antebellum navy to the Confederate cause and then into a long postwar exile.