Biography of D. H. Wood

Below is my biography of D. H. Wood. Though he was in the Army, there is no biography of him in the National Archives.

   David Henry Wood was born about 1820 in Virginia and married Matilda Lewis in 1842. In 1846, he was a Clerk in the Pension Office, and in 1848 a Clerk in the War Department, in Washington, D. C.. By 1860, they had four children and were still living in Washington, working as a Clerk. He is later mentioned as having worked for the Virginia Government and the Confederacy before being appointed a Transportation Agent and then a transportation Quartermaster.
   Except for at least one trip to Charleston, Columbia and Augusta, D. H. spent the entire war arranging transportation and running the Transportation Office in Richmond. There are hundreds of Transportation Requests signed by him that I have not transcribed.

   D. H.'s wife died on February 1, 1876, and D. H. followed her on March 20th.

June 15, 1861 Earliest found signature on a Transportation Request from the Transportation Office in Richmond
June 22, 1861 Sample of hundreds of such requests signed by him
NA, R&D 6-22-61
June 29, 1861 Appointed a Captain in the Quartermaster Department; date of acceptance was July 4. Since he never received government property or dispersed funds, he was not required to secure a bond.
NA, QM 6-29A-61
June 30, 1861 Paid Lynchburg Transportation Agent
NA, RRB 6-30A-61
July 17, 1861 QMG confirmed his status to QM at Manassas
July 31, 1861 Paid Lynchburg Transportation Agent
NA, RRB 7-31-61
August 29, 1861 Paid Carrington for acting as bearer of dispatches to Manassas
NA, QM 8-29-61
September 23, 1861 Sample of report of transportation of troops, sent to A. & I. Gen. Office. Such reports appear to have been made throughout the war
December 3, 1861 Instructed regarding shipping soldier's remains home
December 7, 1861 Instructed to provide transportation for pig iron on the Manassas Gap RR
NA, QM 12-7-61
February 21, 1862 Purchased table, shelves and drawers from Carrington
NA, QM 2-21-62
April 11, 1862 Request confirms Wood's connection to canal boat transportation
NA, QM 4-11A-62
April 15, 1862 Ashe recommended him for promotion to Major
NA, RRB 4-15-62
May 2, 1862 Recommended Mr. Eugene Carrington be given a commission and assigned to Wood for duty. He evidently had worked for or with Wood for the past year.
NA, RRB 5-2-62
June 9, 1862 Sold 2 mules to the Army
NA, QM 6-9-62
October 24, 1862 Appointed Major; confirmed April 30, 1863, with date of rank October 14, 1862.
December 15, 1862 Attended Railroad Convention in Augusta
NA, RRB 12-15-62
February 19, 1863 Submited new receipt forms and procedure for use for Government freight on RRs; it was approved
NA, QM 2-21-63
March 30, 1863 Ordered to explain why there were barrels of sugar, consigned to him, in Augusta; reported fired, but remained on the job
NA, QM 3-30-63
B25, QM 4-1-63
May 26, 1863 Told to determine the personnel required to carry out a QMG order and to fill the positions
NA, RRB 5-26A-63
June 17, 1863 Instructed on route for returning soldiers to the ANV
NA, QM 6-17A-63
June 25, 1863 Received letter of introduction for Mayo's trip
NA, QM 6-25C-63
June 26, 1863 Provided certificate for Richmond-to-Lee courier
MISC, QM 6-26-63
June 29, 1863 Reported his office's hours
NA, QM 6-29A-63
July 4, 1863 Paid Ambulance Train Agent
NA, RRB 7-4-63
NA, RRB 7-31I-63
NA, RRB 9-1J-63
NA, RRB 9-30N-63
NA, RRB 10-31M-63
NA, RRB 12-1B-63
NA, RRB 1-1D-64
NA, RRB 1-31L-64
NA, RRB 2-29L-64
October 6, 1863 Reported the employees in his office
NA, RRB 10-6-63
October 8, 1863 His relation to QMs of ANV explained
NA, QM 10-8A-63
October 29, 1863 A Charleston transportation matter referred to him for investigation
NA, QM 10-29-63
October 31, 1863 Requested a man be detailed to his office
NA, QM 10-31A-63
November 16, 1863 Asked Maj. Whitford how to improve messenger matters
NCA, RRB 11-16-63
November 30, 1863 His relation to transportation matters in Petersburg stated
NA, QM 11-30B-63
December 10, 1863 Reported improper provision of transportation by an AQM
NA, RRB 12-10A-63
December 17, 1863 Sent to Columbia and Charleston to designate one officer to run transportation matters at both places, then to Augusta
NA, QM 12-17B-63
NA, QM 12-29-63
NA, QM 1-14C-64
January 20, 1864 Recommended Lewis for Transportation Agent at Macon
NA, RRB 1-10A-64
Reported changes to his employee list
NA, RRB 1-20B-64
January 27, 1864 Asks for pay raise for his employees
NA, RRB 1-27-64
January 30, 1864 Recommended a General Order to clarify laws
NA, QM 1-30A-64
February 6, 1864 Wanted clarifications on rules
NA, QM 2-6A-64
NA, QM 2-8A-64
March 15, 1864 Published rules for conduct by his employees
NA, QM 3-15B-64
May 21, 1864 Requested a man be detailed to his office
NA, QM 5-21D-64
May 27, 1864 Requested to provide transportation for a pontoon train to Richmond
NA, ENG 5-27-64
June 15, 1864 Inspecting officer's report on his office
NA, QM 6-15B-64
June 24, 1864 Assigned the additional duty as Inspector of Office of Transportation for the Confederate States
NA, QM 6-24-64
August 9, 1864 Asked to continue arrangements among defenses on 2 RRs
NA, ENG 8-9A-64
September 5, 1864 Ordered to provide transportation on General Gardner's order
NA, QM 9-5C-64
October 18, 1864 Reported his detailed men
NA, QM 10-18-64
November 3, 1864 Was mentioned as able to send a piece of clothing to Howard in Lynchburg
NA, RA 11-3-64
January 24, 1865 Informed of the location of the end of the Western North Carolina RR
NA, RRB 1-24D-65
May 16, 1865 Signed his parole, in Richmond

Home