Mallory Stephen 1812 - 1873 Confederate Navy Secretary Stephen Mallory orders Jeff Davis' nephew, Confederate naval hero John Taylor Wood, to conduct raids on Union shipping in Chesapeake Bay

Civil War date Letter Signed, "S R Mallory Sec of the Navy," 1 page, 8.25" x 8.25", Richmond, October 21, 1862 to Lieutenant John Taylor Wood, commanding the James River Squadron. Lower margin irregular, typical folds, else fine.

Mallory's letter to Taylor reads in full: "You are hereby detailed for special duty and will proceed to Chesapeake Bay and carry out as far as practicable the verbal orders from this office. Capt. S[ydney]. S[mith]. Lee will detail such officers & men as you may require to accompany you. You will keep the Dept. advised of your movements and report in person to this office on your return."

Already enjoying a degree of celebrity from his service aboard the C.S.S. Virginia during its historic duel with the ironclad Monitor, as well as a daring nighttime raid on the Chesapeake in early October in which he captured and destroyed the Union transport schooner Francis Elmore, Confederate Navy Secretary Mallory decided to bolster Taylor's support to mount more attacks.

On the night of October 28, Wood led a raiding party of fifty men, in five boats, that boarded the ship Alleganian of New York, which had cleared Baltimore the previous week bound for London. The ship, loaded with guano, a much sought-after agricultural fertilizer. The ship, anchored at the mouth of the Rappahannock for the night proved an easy target. After tying up the officers, the raiders ransacked the ship for valuables and set it aflame before departing. The prisoners were transferred to Libby Prison, but the crew, who had been ordered to follow in a small boat, escaped and were picked up by the U.S.S. Monticello.

Sidney Smith Lee (1802-1869) was Robert E. Lee's older brother and a career naval officer. Appointed mid-shipman in 1820 by 1853 he was in command of Commodore Perry's flagship during his historic expedition to Japan. Although he resigned his commission on April 17, 1861, the day Virginia seceded from the Union, the Navy did not accept the resignation, preferring to dismiss him from the service, which they did on April 22. Lee accepted a commission in the Confederate States Navy soon afterward, becoming commander of the Gosport Navy Yard. He later commanded batteries at Drewry's Bluffs, Virginia. In May 1864 Lee became chief of the Confederate Navy Bureau of Orders and Detail, remaining in that post until the end of the war.

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, Virginias 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 he 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 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 to instead make their way south toward Cuba. He managed to trade with a crew of Union deserters his boat for their slightly bigger sloop. They reached the north shore of Cuban 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.