President Taylor's Grandsons Fought for the Confederacy-- Part 3: John Taylor Wood

Zachary Taylor's daughter, Ann Mackall Taylor Wood, married Robert Crooke Wood, who remained with the Union during the war.  They had two sons and a daughter, Robert Crooke Wood Jr, who I wrote about in the last two posts.  Also there was a daughter, Sarah Knox  Wood (1835-1915).

John Taylor Wood led quite a life and compiled a remarkable record as a Confederate Navy officer during the Civil War.  I will write more about his service in my Running the Blockade:  Civil War Navy blog.

A  short synopsis is here.

Served in U.S. Navy after graduating from the USNA in 1853.  Resigned his commission, but U.S. Navy dismissed him.  His family relationship with Jefferson Davis (his aunt was the first wife of Davis and the fact he was the grandson of a former president) gave him great influence in the Confederacy.

Was a second lieutenant on the CSS Virginia in the Battle of Hampton Roads and fight against the USS Monitor.  Led surprise attacks on Union ships in the Chesapeake Bay area.  Commanded the CSS Tallahassee on a commerce raiding expedition along the American coast and captured and destroyed 31 union ships, captured the Union warship USS Underwriter at New Bern, N.C..

He was also with Jefferson Davis at his capture in Georgia.  Escaping to Cuba, he then went to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and lived there the remainder of his life.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table's Prisons Discussion 3/27/21-- Part 4: Talking About Camp Douglas Today and John Yates Beall

**  There is a Camp Douglas Restoration Foundation that has a primary mission "To provide  active leadership in the development,  delivery, and preservation of  educational and  historic information regarding  the Upper Midwest, especially Illinois and Chicago during the Civil War."

**  And then there was an interesting character by the name of John Yates Beall, who led attacks on Union shipping on the Chesapeake Bay, was captured, released, then was involved in a scheme to release Confederate officers at the prison on Johnson's Island on Lake Erie.  That failed.  But then was captured trying to derail a train near Buffalo, New York.

Jailed again, and after a questionable trial and Abraham Lincoln declining to extend leniency, was hanged at Fort Columbus on Governor's Island in New York Harbor.

**  Abraham Lincoln and Sec. of War Edwin Stanton once visited Point Lookout in Maryland to view Union black soldiers.

**  One of the people at the meeting said he had an ancestor die at the Confederate prison at Danville, Va.

**  Libby Prison was in an old tobacco warehouse.  Prisoners there experienced horrible conditions.

--Old Secesh

Fort Wool Today-- Part 8

The fort was decommissioned in 1953 as a military installation.  Of course, since it was named for U.S. general John Ellis Wool, its name would not have to be changed now since the passage of the 2020 Defense Bill.

It was turned over to Virginia.  In the 1950s, the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) was constructed right next to the fort, with its southern island connected to the fort  by an earthen causeway.  The HRBT opened for traffic in 1957.  In 1967 and again in 1970, the City of Hampton developed the fort into a park which could be accessed by the passenger ferry Miss Hampton II.

The fort can also be seen by  westbound vehicles on approach to the HRBT  southern tunnel, which carries Interstate I-64 across the mouth of Hampton Roads.

The island the fort sits on is now called  Rip Raps and it continues to settle.  Occasionally the casemates of the original fort are put off limits for safety reasons.

On 28 April 2007, a garrison flag was raised over the fort for the first time to salute a Parade of Tall Ships passing by it as part of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of nearby Jamestown.

What caused me to become more aware of the fort and write about it in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog (it was built as a result of the British occupying the Chesapeake Bay during that war and, of course the attacks on Washington, D.C., and Baltimore), was that the fort has now been turned into a bird sanctuary and is off limits to people.

There Needs To be Some Sort of Compromise Between Nature and People Here.  --Old Secesh

Fort Wool in Chesapeake Bay-- Part 2: Lee to the Rescue, Not

Construction of what became Fort Wool began in 1826 and after various delays, by 1834 about half of the second tier had been completed.  But then it was discovered that the man-made island the for sits on was  settling.  It is still settling in the 21st century.

A young second lieutenant and engineer by the name of Robert E. Lee was transferred there to help Captain Andrew Talcott in its construction as well as Fort Monroe across the bay.  Lee was given the task of stabilizing the island, but found the island wouldn't hold even two tiers of gun chambers.

The fort never reached its intended size even with the addition of more base stone.

Work began on the fort again in 1858, but the coming of the Civil War brought it to a halt.  The back of the fort remained open.

--Old Secesh

Fort Wool in Chesapeake Bay-- Part 1: Because of the War of 1812

I wrote about this fort in my November 14 and 16 Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog entries.  This fort was constructed to keep an enemy fleet out of the Chesapeake Bay after the experience with the British in that war.  It and Fort Monroe to the north would provide a crossfire to stop an enemy.

From Wikipedia.

Fort Wool is a decommissioned  island fortification now known as Rip Raps Island.  originally it was named Castle Calhoun of Fort Calhoun after  Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and later renamed for  Major General John Ellis Wool (1784-1869).

The general was a veteran of three wars:  War of 1812, Mexican War and the Civil War.  He was the oldest general on either side during the Civil War.

Fort Wool was one of 40 forts constructed after the War of 1812.  This was known as the Third System of U.S. forts.  It was constructed on a shoal of  ballast stones dumped by ships entering the Chesapeake Bay and was originally constructed to have three tiers of gun chambers as well as a barbette tier at the top, altogether mounting  216 cannons.

--Old Secesh

John Yates Beall-- Part 2: Privateering, Johnson's Island, Hanged

In the meantime, he began a series of privateering missions along the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.  he was captured in November 1863, and imprisoned at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  This led to reprisals by the Confederate government.

On May 5, 1864, he was formally exchanged.

With Beall's own initiative and without government support, he returned to Canada with his original aim of liberating the prisoners held at Johnson's Island.

On September 18, 1864, Beall and a small group of men captured the steamers Philo Parsons and Island Queen.  However, he was unable to get to Johnson's Island because of a mutiny in his followers.

Wearing civilian clothing, he was captured in civilian clothing at Niagara, New York, on December 16, 1864,   Tried a a guerrilla, he was found guilty and hanged at Governor's Island, New York, on December 24, 1864.

--Old Secesh