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Lot 87
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Robert E Lee offers congrats to Confederate Navy Hero John Taylor Wood
Robert E Lee offers congrats to Confederate Navy Hero John Taylor Wood
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Description:

Robert E. Lee writes a congratulatory Autograph Letter Signed to Confederate Naval hero John Taylor Wood after his storied raid on New Bern, North Carolina—offered with Wood's original report on the raid to General Lee!

ROBERT E. LEE (1807-1870) Fine content War date Autograph Letter Signed, "R. E. Lee Genl," 1 page, 7.75" x 8", "Hd qrs:" February 12, 1864 to Colonel John Taylor Wood, congratulating him on his role in the Confederate attempt on New Bern, North Carolina the previous week. Mounting remnants on verso show through at corners, not affecting signature, light soiling, expected folds, margins slightly irregular, else very good. Offered together with John Taylor Wood Autograph Document, 2 pages, 4.75" x 8" in pencil, [n.p., February 8, 1864] to Robert E. Lee, reporting on the results of the Confederate Raid on New Bern. Minor toning, expected folds, writing a tad light, else very good.

Lee writes, in full: "I have read with much gratification your report of the 8th Inst: of your operations near Newbern. I congratulate you & the brave men with you on accomplishing so well your part. I regret the failure of the general plan, but I know how hard it is on an extensive field, to harmonize all the movements of a combined attack. Had this been accomplished, I think the place would have fallen. I hope you will press forward the completion of the gunboats. Gen. Hoke has detailed from his brigade to work on them 92 mechanics and 50 laborers."

Lee was congratulating Wood on his part in an abortive Confederate attempt to capture New Bern, North Carolina from the Union in a three-pronged attack involving forces commanded by George E. Pickett. On the night of February 1, 1864, John Taylor Wood, commanding 300 officers, seamen, and marines aboard twelve boats approached Union-occupied New Bern, North Carolina. When they arrived in the port, they found a single Union gunboat, the U.S.S. Underwriter, a four-gun side wheeler manned by a crew of 84, anchored near the guns of Fort Stevenson. Wood and his men immediately made for the Union ship, quickly overpowering and capturing the crew. However, when they attempted to make off with the Underwriter, they found the boilers cold—making an immediate escape impossible. Union troops on shore were alerted to the capture, and very soon Wood and his men were being raked by enemy fire and had to abandon the prize. Meanwhile, George Pickett's columns also encountered stiff resistance from Union defenses and he too was forced to retreat. Despite the overall failure of the mission, Wood's daring won him calls for a promotion, which he politely declined.

Accompanying Lee's congratulatory letter is Wood's original manuscript report of the action, which reads, in large part: "I report to you the result of the late attempt upon Newbern Leaving K[INSTON] at noon on the 31st ult we reached Newbern at 4 A.M. Passed down & up in front of the town along the steamers & shipping without discovering the G[un] B[oat] ... At daybreak returned to Batchelors [sic[ Creek, as our forward[?] crossing ... reconnoitered only one gun-boat in sight. After dark attacked and captured her... I tried to move her but failed... fired her, bringing off ... [our[ boats & men. Then next morning all of our forces were ordered back..."

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 costal 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.

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