Wikipedia

Charles Carroll Wood

Lieutenant Charles Carroll Wood (19 March 1876 – 11 November 1899) was the first Canadian Officer to die in the Second Boer War.[10] As a member of a family that had distinguished itself in America, his great grandfather being Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States, he was buried with full military honours.[28]

Charles Carroll Wood
Wood as a cadet at RMC
Born(1876-03-19)19 March 1876
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Died11 November 1899(1899-11-11) (aged 23)
Belmont, South Africa
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service1892-99
RankLieutenant
UnitRoyal Military College of Canada
1st North Lancashire Regiment
Battles / warsSecond Boer War

Wood's promising military career was cut short.[31] Also known as Lieut. C. C. Wood, on the news of his death, Queen Victoria wrote a letter of condolence to his family and, at the Queen's request, Lieut. Wood's portrait was sent to her at Windsor.[36] Robert E. Lee Jr. was among others to send his condolences to Wood's family having met Wood in Halifax, Nova Scotia, three years earlier.[32]

Lieut. Wood's memorial service at St. Luke's Cathedral in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was attended by Lord Seymour, then Commander of the British Troops in Canada, the British Services and the Canadian Militia, in uniform.[5] Lieut. Wood's memorial service was officiated by Bishop Courtney.[5]

In addition to being the descendant of a President, he was the son of John Taylor Wood and a grand-nephew of Jefferson Davis who served as President of the Confederate States of America from 1861 to 1865.[42] His brother was Zachary Taylor Wood.[43][44][45] On his maternal side, Wood was a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence.[39][46] An obituary stated that the 'lamented death of this promising young officer, when fighting in defence of the Mother Country, will be deeply felt by all, and will be an enduring example of the Colonial sons of the Empire'.[47]

After his death, Chaswood, Nova Scotia, was named in his honour to 'perpetuate the memory of Charles Wood, a native of Halifax and the first Canadian soldier to be killed in action in the South African War'.[7][15]

Lieut. Wood's name was the first on the roll of honour to be carved on a statue designed by Hamilton MacCarthy in Halifax, Nova Scotia, commemorating Canadians who died in the Boer War.[53] The cornerstone of the monument was laid in October 1901 by the Duke of Duchess of York and Cornwall, the Duke later reigning as King George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions.[54] Wood also has a commemorative plaque on the memorial staircase at the RMC Club in Kingston, Ontario, and his memory is recorded on a statue in Toronto.[55][56][57]

Life

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General Lord William Seymour, who represented the British Army at the memorial service of Lieut. Wood, St. Luke's Cathedral, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
 
South African Soldier's Monument at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Charles Carroll Wood was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia where his father, John Taylor Wood, had resided since the end of the American Civil War having served as a Confederate Officer.[37] Charles Carroll Wood was a grandnephew of Jefferson Davis and a great-grandson of Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States.[37][44][58] His great-great-grandfather was Colonel Richard Taylor, an Officer in the Continental Army of the American Revolutionary War.[59]

Wood's mother was Lola Mackubin Wood and his brother was Zachary Taylor Wood.[39][60][61] Wood's mother hailed from the Carrolls of Carrollton.[39] Charles Carroll of Carrollton was a signatory of the American Declaration of Independence.[62]

Charles Carroll Wood was educated in England at Bedford Modern School between 1886 and 1889,[38] and later entered the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, graduating in 1896.[63][64] When his father left the United States for Canada after the American Civil War, Wood remained a British Subject of Canadian birth and was commissioned into the 1st Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.[3][39][65] He served in India before being sent to South Africa at the outset of the Second Boer War and was made Lieutenant in 1899.[1][66]

On 11 November 1899, Charles Carroll Wood was killed at Belmont, near Orange River, having 'been wounded in the head and chest with his face to the foe'.[5][67][68] Wood's Colonel, Cecil Edward Keith-Falconer of the Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed at the same time.[75] Corporal Lincoln, who had been involved in the skirmish at Belmont, stated in his diary that it 'had been a splendid victory for the British arms completely defeating the Boers on their own chosen position which was one of great natural strength'.[74]

Lieut. Wood was the first Canadian born Officer to die in the Second Boer War.[1] Wood and his Colonel were buried in the same veldt with full military honours.[2] Shortly after Lieut. Wood's death, a memorial service was held in his honour at St. Luke's Cathedral in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[5] The service was attended by Lord Seymour, then Commander of the British troops in Canada, the British Services and the Canadian Militia, in uniform.[5] The memorial service was officiated by Bishop Courtney.[5] In its description of the eulogy, an article in The Boston Globe stated that the 'edifice was crowded. The lectern and pulpit was draped with the British flag'.[82]

On the news of his death, Queen Victoria wrote a letter of condolence to his family and, at her request, Lieut. Wood's portrait was sent to her at Windsor.[83] Robert E. Lee Jr. was among others to send his condolences to Wood's family having met Wood in Halifax, Nova Scotia, three years earlier.[32]

Chaswood, Nova Scotia was named in Lieut. Wood's honour to 'perpetuate the memory of Charles Wood, a native of Halifax and the first Canadian soldier to be killed in action in the South African War'.[7][15] Lieut. Wood's name is carved on a statue in Halifax, Nova Scotia, designed by Hamilton MacCarthy and commemorating Canadians who died in the Second Boer War.[48][84] Wood also has a commemorative plaque on the memorial staircase at the RMC Club in Kingston, Ontario.[55][56] In a public expression of sympathy, the children of Morris Street School honoured Charles Wood by planting a tree in the public garden of Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a commemorative plaque.[54]

An obituary of Lieut. Wood stated that the 'lamented death of this promising young officer, when fighting in defence of the Mother Country, will be deeply felt by all, and will be an enduring example of the Colonial sons of the Empire'.[47] He was remembered forty and fifty years after his death in Canadian newspapers.[85][86]

References

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  1. ^ a b Obituary in The New York Times, LIEUT. C. C. WOOD'S CAREER, 13 November 1899, p.2
  2. ^ Obituary in The Los Angeles Times, Monday 13 November 1899, p.2
  3. ^ a b c Obituary in The Morning Post, London. Monday, 13 November 1899. p.5
  4. ^ a b Obituary in The Washington Star, Lieut. Wood of American Descent, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. 13 November 1899, p.2
  5. ^ a b c d e f g The Sun, New York, USA. Memorial Service for Lieut. Wood, Tuesday 21 November 1899, p.1
  6. ^ BULLETINS FROM BULLER, Col. C.E. Keith-Falconer and Lieut. C. C. Wood Were Killed, The Windsor Star, Ontario, Canada. Monday 13 November 1899, p.1
  7. ^ a b c Hamilton, William Baillie (1 January 1996). Place Names of Atlantic Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802075703 – via Google Books.
  8. ^ a b The Times, London, UK. Western Frontier, Skirmish Near Belmont, 13 November 1899, p.7
  9. ^ "Library of World History: Containing a Record of the Human Race from the Earliest Historical Period to the Present Time; Embracing a General Survey of the Progress of Mankind in National and Social Life, Civil Government, Religion, Literature, Science and Art". Western Press Assoc. 16 May 1914 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
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  12. ^ a b Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (28 April 1975). Burke's Presidential Families of the United States of America. Burke's Peerage. ISBN 9780850110173 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ Mellish, Annie Elizabeth (2 May 1900). "Our Boys Under Fire, Or, Maritime Volunteers in South Africa". Printed at the Examiner Office – via Google Books.
  14. ^ a b Obituary in the Nashville Banner, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. A DESCENDANT OF CARROLL. Tuesday 9 January 1900, p.4
  15. ^ a b c d e Thurston, Arthur (28 April 1989). Arthur Thurston's Tallahassee skipper: the biography of John Taylor Wood, Merrimac gunner, soldier-at-sea, guardian of the Confederate treasury, adopted Nova Scotian. A. Thurston Publications. ISBN 9780921596028 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ a b c Veterans Affairs Canada (20 February 2019). "Page from book: - Books of Remembrance - Memorials - Remembrance". www.veterans.gc.ca.
  17. ^ a b Salt Lake Telegram, Utah, USA. Friday 28 March 1902, p.4
  18. ^ a b Obituary in the Boston Globe, Descendant of a Signer Killed in Africa, Thursday 18 January 1900, p.8
  19. ^ a b The Washington Times, District of Columbia, USA. Sunday 4 May 1902, p.8
  20. ^ a b The Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, Ireland. Wednesday 15 November 1899, p.5
  21. ^ a b Obituary in The Aberdeen Journal, 13 November 1899, Scotland, p.5
  22. ^ a b John Bell. Confederate Seadog: John Taylor Wood in War and Exile. McFarland Publishers. 2002. p. 59
  23. ^ ""Arrival of Police in the Yukon", 1904 - Migration to New Worlds - Adam Matthew Digital". www.migration.amdigital.co.uk.
  24. ^ Office, Great Britain War; Maurice, Sir John Frederick (8 May 1906). "History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902". Hurst and Blackett limited – via Google Books.
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  33. ^ General Zachary Taylor: The Louisiana President of the United States of America by James Joseph Alcée. Louisiana's Part in the War with Mexico. Published by Louisiana State Museum, 1937, p.48. Queen Victoria acknowledged receipt of Lieut. Wood's portrait on Jan.17, 1900
  34. ^ The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Thursday, 9 January 1913, p.10: 'When Lieut. Charles Carroll Wood of the English army, aged twenty-three, was killed in Belmont in November, 1899, during the late Boer War, Queen Victoria wrote a letter of sympathy to his family, and at her request Lieut. Wood's portrait was sent to her at Windsor'.
  35. ^ Marquis, Thomas Guthrie (8 May 1900). "Canada's Sons on Kopje and Veldt: An Historical Account of the Canadian Contingents Based on ... Despatches of Lieutenant-Colonel W. D. Otter and ... Other ... Officers ... on the Letters of ... War Correspondents ... C. Frederick Hamilton ... [and Others]". Canadian Son's Publishing Company – via Google Books.
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  48. ^ a b The Eudora Weekly News, Kansas, USA. Blood Will Tell. Thursday, 3 April 1902, p.1
  49. ^ "Halifax Military Heritage Preservation Society". hmhps.ca.
  50. ^ The Oregon Daily Journal, Portland, Oregon, USA, Nova Scotia Unveils Monument To Her Dead, Saturday 24 May 1902, p.6
  51. ^ Omaha Daily Bee, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Tuesday 25 March 1902, p.6
  52. ^ Asbury Park Press, New Jersey, USA. 4 March 1902, p.5
  53. ^ [48][49][50][51][52]
  54. ^ a b CONFEDERATE SEADOG, John Taylor Wood in War and Exile, by John Bell, p.60. Published by McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers of Jefferson, North Carolina and London, 2002 ISBN 0786413522
  55. ^ a b Canada, Veterans Affairs (20 February 2019). "Charles Carroll Wood - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada". www.veterans.gc.ca.
  56. ^ a b "» Our History".
  57. ^ Parkhouse, Valerie B. (28 January 2015). Memorializing the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902: Militarization of the Landscape: Monuments and Memorials in Britain. Troubador Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781780884011 – via Google Books.
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  60. ^ Obituary in The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, USA, MRS. LOLA MACKUBIN WOOD, Saturday Morning, 2 October 1909, p.9
  61. ^ "Painting - Lola Mackubin Wood".
  62. ^ "Signers of the Declaration of Independence:Charles Carroll". www.ushistory.org.
  63. ^ "Page 4988 | Issue 26774, 4 September 1896 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk.
  64. ^ Veterans Affairs Canada (20 February 2019). "Charles Carroll Wood - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial". www.veterans.gc.ca.
  65. ^ The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 26 June 1896, p.1
  66. ^ "The London Gazette" (PDF). 23 June 1899. p. 3942. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  67. ^ "The Independent". Independent Publications, incorporated. 11 May 1899 – via Google Books.
  68. ^ Brewer, Mary Taylor (12 May 1985). "From Log Cabins to the White House: A History of the Taylor Family". M.T. Brewer – via Google Books.
  69. ^ a b "North East War Memorials Project - Every Name A Story Content". www.newmp.org.uk.
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  75. ^ [69][8][39][70][71][72][73][74]
  76. ^ Abadie, Eustace Henry Egremont (2 May 1989). A Soldier in South Africa: The Experiences of Eustace Abadie, 1899 to 1902. Brenthurst Press. ISBN 9780909079444 – via Google Books.
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  78. ^ The Burlington Free Press, Vermont, USA. Saturday 22 March 1902, p.4
  79. ^ Downham, John (21 June 2000). Red roses on the Veldt: Lancashire Regiments in the Boer War, 1899-1902. Carnegie Pub. ISBN 9781859360750 – via Google Books.
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  81. ^ Luscombe, Stephen. "The Northumberland Fusiliers". www.britishempire.co.uk.
  82. ^ Died With His Face To The Foe, Memorial Service at Halifax for Lieut. Wood, Killed In South Africa-Eulogy by Bishop Courtney, The Boston Globe, United States, Tuesday, 21 November 1899, p.3
  83. ^ The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Thursday, 9 January 1913, p.10
  84. ^ Arizona Daily Star, Sunday 25 May 1902, p.1
  85. ^ Remembrance in The Province, British Columbia, Canada, Looking Backward, 40 Years Ago. 15 November 1939, p.22
  86. ^ Remembrance in The Vancouver Sun, Fifty Years Ago, Lieut C. C. Wood of Halifax was the first reported Canadian fatality of the South African War. 15 November 1949, p.5
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