Description:

Incredible War Date ALS by Jefferson Davis to the wife of Confederate naval hero John Taylor Wood, relating Wood's daring capture of Union gunboats Satellite & Reliance

JEFFERSON DAVIS (1808-1889) Important War Date Autograph Letter Signed, "Jeffn. Davis," as President of the Confederate States of America, 1 page, 4.75" x 8", Richmond, August 25, 1863 to Lola MacKubin Wood (1834-1909), the wife of Confederate Navy hero, John Taylor Wood (1830-1904) describing a letter he had just received from her husband announcing the capture of the Union steamers, the U.S.S. Satellite and the U.S.S. Reliance. Typical mailing folds, left margin slightly rough, else very clean and in fine condition.

Davis, writing to his nephew's wife, quotes a letter from her husband reporting on his successful nighttime raid that resulted in the capture of two Union gunboats.

" I have just received a note from your husband dated Aug. 23d. on board C. S. Steamer 'Satellite.' He says 'I take great pleasure & pride in reporting to you the capture of the Yankee gunboats Satellite and Reliance, each 2 guns & 40 men with slight loss on our side. Unfortunately they are both short of coal. I am well & grateful for our success.' I hope we shall soon see him & that he will shall be able to give you a fuller account of his adventures. Love to yourself and the little ones."

The same day that Davis forwarded this letter to Wood's wife, John Taylor Wood piloted the Satellite back to the mouth of the Rappahannock and seized the schooner Golden Rod, which was laden with coal, together with two schooners that were filled with cargoes of chain and anchors. After burning the Golden Rod (its draft was too deep for the river), Taylor returned to Port Royal, Virginia with the prizes, which, with the Satellite and Reliance, were all stripped of useful parts and scuttled to prevent capture on August 28, 1863 (Dictionary of American Fighting Ships).

John Taylor Wood (1830-1904) , the son of Union General Robert Wood and Anne Taylor, the daughter of President Zachary Taylor, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1852. Initially maintaining a neutral stance following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, his sympathies headed South after the Battle of Fort Sumter. On April 21, 1861, he resigned his commission in the U.S. Navy and retired to his Maryland farm. The farming life did not last long, however, as life was becoming too dangerous. Fearing for the safety of his family, the Woods moved south to Richmond, Virginia where his uncle, Jefferson Davis, was now presiding over the Confederate capital (Jefferson Davis' first wife, Sarah Taylor, was Wood's mother's sister).

In October 1861, Taylor received a commission as a lieutenant in the Confederate States Navy and became an officer aboard the C.S.S. Virginia (the former U.S.S. Merrimack) and fought against the U.S.S. Monitor at the Battle of Hampton Roads. Wood commanded the rear pivot gun and fired the shot that wounded the Monitor's captain. Appointed an aide-de-camp to President Jefferson Davis, Wood was awarded the rank and pay of a colonel of cavalry, giving him simultaneous commands in both the Confederate Army and Navy, and allowing him to serve as an effective liaison between the services and the government in Richmond. In that capacity, Wood undertook an extensive survey of Confederate coastal defenses. During the summer of 1863, he led a series of successful raids against Union shipping in Chesapeake Bay. In the summer of 1864, Wood commanded the C.S.S. Tallahassee, a raider and blockade runner. During his tenure aboard the Tallahassee, he captured an astounding 33 Union ships during a ten-day period off the coast of New England.

By April 1865, the situation looked grim for the Confederacy. Wood was with his uncle on April 2, attending St. Paul's Church in Richmond, when a telegram from Lee arrived informing the president that Petersburg would soon fall and the government must evacuate. That evening, he, Davis, and other members of the Confederate government boarded a train for Danville, Virginia. They continued their flight south, where, on May 10, 1865, near the town of Irwinsville, Georgia, Davis and Wood were both captured by Union forces. Wood soon made his escape, with his uncle's permission, by bribing one of his captors and hiding in a nearby swamp until the Federals and their prisoners left the area.

Wood made his way south to Florida and met up with Major General John C. Breckinridge. Acquiring a small boat, Wood, Breckinridge, and several other men first attempted to row east to The Bahamas, but abandoned the plan and decided instead to make their way south toward Cuba. He managed to trade his boat with a crew of Union deserters for their slightly bigger sloop. They reached the north shore of Cuba on June 10. He remained in Cuba for two weeks before heading north to Canada, where his family soon joined him. Reunited, they settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and remained there for the rest of their lives. John Taylor Wood died on July 19, 1904.

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