Hampton, Virginia and in
Norfolk, Virginia. At Hampton, his home was the site of the present
Hampton Institute
Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association aft ...
(now
Hampton University). Most of the son's early life was spent around
Hampton Roads, Virginia
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic O ...
.
When still of high school age, he volunteered for service in the
Confederate Army at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was assigned to drilling troops from his native eastern North Carolina as early as June 1861, and he spent the rest of that year as a drill master.
Because his father insisted that he further his education Wood entered
Virginia Military Institute
la, Consilio et Animis (on seal)
, mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal)
, established =
, type = Public senior military college
, accreditation = SACS
, endowment = $696.8 mill ...
on January 9, 1862, from Hickory Groves, Norfolk County, Virginia. His father's occupation was listed as "farming". His cadetship extended over a period of two years and ten months at V.M.I. and he earned the sobriquet Ajax because of his size and prowess. Wood was suspended in January, 1864 for being absent from barracks after taps. He was reinstated the following month by the V.M.I. Board of Visitors.
Wood served as a corporal in Company C in the V.M.I. Cadet Corps which was ordered in May 1864 to join the Confederate Army of Major General
John C. Breckinridge
John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...
, who was attempting to stop a Union advance up the
Shenandoah Valley. At
New Market, Virginia on May 14, 1864, a rainy Sunday afternoon, a corps of 247 teenage V.M.I. cadets, with no battle experience, held a sector of Confederate front lines against an assault by seasoned Federal troops headed by Major General
Franz Sigel
Franz Sigel (November 18, 1824 – August 21, 1902) was a German American military officer, revolutionary and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil ...
. The esprit among the V.M.I. cadets enabled them to turn what might have been a defeat for Breckinridge into an astounding victory, now known as the
Battle of New Market
The Battle of New Market was fought on May 15, 1864, in Virginia during the Valley Campaigns of 1864 in the American Civil War. A makeshift Confederate army of 4,100 men defeated the larger Army of the Shenandoah under Major General Franz S ...
. In this battle Wood was "on the colors," or urging the cadet colors onward. Actually the flag "urged forward" was not the Confederate flag but the V.M.I. Cadet flag. Federal troops seeing it are reported to have assumed that troops of a foreign nation had joined forces with Breckinridge's troops.
In 1867, Wood entered the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
to study medicine.
Wood attended the University of Virginia two years, then finished his M.D. degree at Baltimore Medical College in 1869. At the completion of his education, he practiced medicine in
Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It ...
. He married Mary Scott (b. 1846) and they had two children, a son William E. Wood (b. 1880) and a daughter Annie M. Wood (b. 1876).
Wood died in 1911 of illness. Wood is buried among the maples in the cemetery of his adopted home, Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
External links
Pi Kappa Alphaat www.pka.org
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Julian Edward
1844 births
1911 deaths
University of Virginia School of Medicine alumni
Pi Kappa Alpha founders
Virginia Military Institute alumni
People from Currituck County, North Carolina
People from Elizabeth City, North Carolina