2nd Lieutenant Mark Wood (USA)

http://www.andrewsraid.com/wood.html

Participated in the Great Locomotive Chase, or Andrews' Raid, a military raid that occurred April 12, 1862 in northern Georgia during the American Civil War.

Five feet 7 inches tall, dark complexion, brown hair, blue eyes; 23 years of age on day of the Raid. Came to United States about 1858. Machinist.

Born Nottingham, England; christened September 22, 1839, to William (d. July 29, 1892, aged 87 years) and Mary Wood, Germantown, PA.

First Raider to die after War, July 11, 1866, Toledo, Ohio.

Buried Forest Cemetery, Toledo, Masonic Lot. No. 36, Section H, Grave No. 8, July 13, 1866. New marker on grave with engraved likeness of General, executed by Bo Coogler of Elberton, GA.

Enrolled as Private C Co. 21st Ohio Infantry Regiment, August 29, 1861, Perrysburg, Ohio. Mustered September 19, 1861, Findlay, Ohio, three years. Volunteered Andrews Raid, April 7, 1862. Promoted Corporal, February, 1862. Discharged February 9, 1864. Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant Co. F 21st Ohio Infantry Regiment March 1, 1864. Hospitalized Chattanooga, TN, May 9, 1864. Discharged November 3, 1864, with disability due to wounds received at the Battle of Chickamauga, GA, and again at Buzzard’s Roost, GA, May 9, 1864.

Saw action at Battle of Ivy Hill, November 8, 1861; in Andrews Raid; at Battles of Stones River, December, 1862; Chickamauga, September, 1863, and Buzzard’s Roost, May, 1864.

Captured near Bridgeport, AL, escaped Fulton County Jail, Atlanta, GA, October 16, 1862; journeyed with John Alf Wilson. Picked up by Union gunboat, Gulf of Mexico, November 10, 1862. POW in Battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863; paroled Chattanooga, September 29, 1863.

Pension $15 per month for disability, effective November 3, 1864.

Awarded Medal of Honor, September 29, 1863.

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Private Mark Wood, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism on April, 1862, while serving with Company G, 21st Ohio Infantry, in action during the Andrew's Raid in Georgia. Private Wood was one of the 19 of 22 men (including two civilians), who, by direction of General Mitchell (or Buell), penetrated nearly 200 miles south into enemy territory and captured a railroad train at Big Shanty, Georgia, and attempted to destroy the bridges and track between Chattanooga and Atlanta.

General Orders: Date of Issue: September 1863

Action Date: April, 1862

Service: Army

Rank: Private

Company: Company C

Division: 21st Ohio Infantry

Mark Wood (September 22, 1839 - July 11, 1866) was an American soldier who fought in the American Civil War. Wood received his country's highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his role in the celebrated Great Locomotive Chase.[1] Wood and a fellow participant in the raid, John A. Wilson, were captured close to Union lines in Stevenson, Alabama after they abandoned The General. Wood and Wilson escaped from captivity and after sailing down the Chattahoochee River, were rescued by a Union ship.[1] He was honored with the award on May 12, 1865.[2]

Wood joined the Army from Portage, Ohio in August 1861. He was captured a second time at the Battle of Chickamauga, but paroled several days later. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in March 1864, and discharged due to disability the following November. Wood was buried in Toledo, Ohio.[