[CIVL WAR] Confederate Navy Commander John Taylor Wood Letter

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Day 3: The American Civil War: Gettysburg & M...

By Fleischer's Auctions

Oct 11, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-10-11 09:00:00 2025-10-11 09:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Day 3: The American Civil War: Gettysburg & More https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/fleischers-auctions/day-3-the-american-civil-war-gettysburg-more-19251
Featuring rare artifacts, documents, ephemera, photography, and weaponry relating to the American Civil War. The catalog's emphasis is the Battle of Gettysburg and includes offerings from the collection of noted Gettysburg scholar, Marshall D. Krolick. Fleischer's Auctions info@fleischersauctions.com

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• Lot Description

  Autograph letter signed by John Taylor Wood, Commander of the Confederate States Army Prov Navy. Cape Fear River, North Carolina, 11 July 1864. 1 page, 8 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. Docketing to verso. 

   

  John Taylor Wood, a commander for the Confederate Navy, wrote this letter to his wife while waiting to set sail; he discusses being delayed to set out, comically writing at the head of the letter that he is aboard the “C.S. Steamer ‘Let her be.’” After expressing his frustration, he assuredly writes, “I hardly think the Yankees have learned our destination.” 

   

  Wood was a prominent Confederate seaman, the grandson of United States President Zachary Taylor and the nephew of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He served on the CSS Virginia and the CSS Tallahassee, the latter of which he was commander. Wood participated in the Battle of Hampton Roads, where he was wounded, and became a blockade runner while commanding the Tallahassee. He was briefly taken prisoner with Davis, but Wood escaped to Cuba and eventually Nova Scotia. 

   

  [Civil War, Union, Confederate] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Navy, Naval History, Brown Water Navy, David Glasgow Farragut, David Dixon Porter, Battle of Mobile Bay, Battle of New Orleans, Blockade, Confederate Blockade]

  Condition

  Request Condition Report

  Two small stains. 

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