Coxswain Robert B. Wood, a sailor in the U.S. Navy, received the Medal of Honor for gallantry on April 14, 1863 at Nansemond River, Virginia during the Civil War. At the time he was serving with attached to the U.S.S. Minnesota & temporarily serving on the U.S.S. Mount Washington. Wood was about 27 years old.
4 other service members also received the Medal of Honor for actions on the same day.
Wood was born in 1836 in New Garden, Columbiana County, Ohio. His Medal of Honor is credited to Ohio. Wood died on July 1, 1878 in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of about 42. He is buried at Grove Hill Cemetery in Hanoverton, Ohio.
Wood is one of 1,525 Medal of Honor recipients from the Civil War and one of 256 credited to Ohio.
Official Medal of Honor citation
Attached to the U.S.S. Minnesota and temporarily served on the U.S.S. Mount Washington during action against the enemy in the Nansemond River, 14 April 1863. When the U.S.S. Mount Washington drifted against the bank and all men were driven from the decks by escaping steam following several successive hits which struck her boilers and stopped her engines, Wood boarded the stricken vessel and, despite a strike on the head by a spent ball, continued at his gun for six hours as fierce artillery and musketry continued to rake her decks.
Citation text: U.S. Government, public domain.
Battles and campaigns
Also served in: American Civil War.
Life beyond the battlefield
- Occupations: coxswain
Source: Wikidata.
Places
- Born: New Garden — map
Timeline
- 1836Born in New Garden, Columbiana County, Ohio
- April 14, 1863Act of valor — Nansemond River, VirginiaAge about 27. attached to the U.S.S. Minnesota & temporarily serving on the U.S.S. Mount Washington
- July 1, 1878Died in Columbus, OhioAge about 42.
- Resting placeGrove Hill CemeteryHanoverton, Ohio
Biography
Robert B. Wood (c. 1836 – July 1, 1878) was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of Suffolk. Born in about 1836 in New Garden, Ohio, Wood was still living in that city when he joined the Navy. He served during the Civil War as a coxswain on the USS Minnesota. During the Battle of Suffolk on April 14, 1863, he was temporarily assigned to the USS Mount Washington as it conducted operations on the Nansemond River in Virginia. For this action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor three months later, on July 10, 1863.
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