Kentucky’s Civil War leaders…
Wood’s clash with Rosecrans led
to controversy at Chickamauga

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 32nd in a series about Kentucky’s officers and battle leaders during the Civil War.)

Munfordville’s Thomas John Wood was the last survivor of his West Point class and the first roommate of U.S. Grant.

But, unfortunately, the union major general also was known for a controversy at the Battle of Chickamauga where he was blamed for contributing to the defeat of Gen. William S. Rosecrans.

On Sept. 19, 1863, a breakdown in situational awareness by Rosecrans and poor staff work resulted in Wood receiving a seemingly senseless order. If literally obeyed, it required him to pull his division out of the line to the support of another division further to his left. The move would create an unprotected gap in the right of the line.

Instead of verifying his commander's actual intent, Wood elected to regard the order as imperative and moved his division out of its position. Less than 30 minutes after Wood moved his division, Confederate Lt. Gen. James Longstreet's men poured throught the resulting gap and cut Rosencran's army in two. Rosencrans eventually was relieved from command of the Army of the Cumberland following the Union defeat. Wood, however, retained his division.

Prior to receiving the “senseless” order, Wood was upbraided twice by Rosencrans for failing to promptly obey orders. This included a dressing down in front of Wood’s entire staff. A furious Wood apparently let his bitterness get the better of him and followed the order at once and to the letter.

Wood redeemed himself during the successful assault on Missionary Ridge and at the Battle of Lovejoy’s Station, where, despite a badly shattered leg, he stayed on the field encouraging his men. He commanded the IV Corps of the Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Nashville and pursued John Bell Hood’s Confederates after the Union victory.

An 1845 graduate of the United States Military Academy, Wood finished fifth in a class of 41 cadets. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Corps of Engineers and was cited for valor at the Mexican war’s Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. After the war, he served in a succession of cavalry postings on the open frontier in the American West.

Wood was the son of George Thomas Wood, an army officer, and Elizabeth Helm, a half sister of Mary Todd Lincoln. Through his mother, he was a cousin of Confederate Gen. Benjamin H. Helm.

After the Civil War, Wood was assigned to duty in Mississippi with the occupation army. Frustrated with administrative duty with the Freedmen’s Bureau and the politics of Reconstruction, he retired from the service in June 1868, having achieved the same rank in the regular army. His old war wounds prevented him from achieving his desire of returning to active duty on the frontier.

He moved to Dayton and became active in the Grand Army of the Republic, a social organization for Union Army veterans. He also served as a member of the board of visitors at the Military Academy and was a companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

He died in 1906 at age 82 and is buried in West Point Cemetery.