John Taylor Wood was born at Fort Snelling, in the Northwest Territory (now Minnesota) on August 13, 1831. His parents were Robert Crooke Wood (September 23, 1801-March 28, 1869), later a U.S. Assistant Surgeon General, and Ann Margaret Mackall Taylor (April 9, 1811-December 2, 1875), daughter of Gen. (and later U.S. President) Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784-July 9, 1850) and the older sister of Sarah Knox Taylor (March 6, 1814-September 15, 1835), who was the first wife of Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808-December 6, 1889).

     He entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman in 1847, and served during the Mexican War (1846-1848) on the U.S.S. Ohio and U.S.S. Brandywine. Prior to the War Between the States, he held the rank of Lieutenant, was Assistant Professor of Seamanship and Gunnery at U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Ann Arundel County, Maryland, and was married to Lola MacKubin (1834-1909) on November 24, 1856.

     After resigning his commission in April 1861, he served in the Virginia naval forces at river batteries at Evansport and Aquia Creek, guarding approaches from the Potomac River. He was commissioned 1^st Lieutenant in the Confederate Navy on October 4, 1861, and in January 1862 was ordered to the C.S.S. Virginia ("The Merrimack"), then preparing for service. He selected the volunteers for her crew, and during in the two day battle at Hampton Roads (May 8-9, 1862) commanded the after-pivot gun, received the surrender of the U.S.S. Congress, and presented the verbal report of Commodore Franklin Buchanan (September 13, 1800-May 11, 1874) to the President. Following the forced scuttling of the Virginia, he commanded the sharpshooters in the repulse of the Federal fleet at Drewry's Bluff (May 12, 1862).

     On February 9, 1863, he was appointed Aide de Camp to President Jefferson Davis (June 3, 1808-December 6, 1889) with the rank of Colonel of Cavalry. He organized numerous boat expeditions against the enemy on Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, and inspected Confederate water defenses at Port Hudson and Vicksburg. His naval rank was advanced to Commander on December 7, 1863.

     Wood and his men received the "Thanks of Congress" on February 15, 1864, "for the daring and brilliantly executed plans which resulted in the capture of the U.S. transport schooner Elmore, on the Potomac River; of the ship Allegheny, and the U.S. gunboats Satellite and Reliance; and the U.S. transport schooners Golden Rod, Coquette, and Two Brothers, on the Chesapeake; and more recently in the capture from under the guns of the enemy's works of the U.S. gunboat Underwriter, on the Neuse river, near New Bern, N.C., with the officers and crews of the several vessels brought off as prisoners."

     In August 1864, he commanded the C.S.S. Tallahassee in a cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia and back, capturing thirty vessels. He was offered command of the James River Squadron in the winter of 1864-1865, but respectfully declined. His naval rank was again advanced, to Captain, on February 8, 1865. He delivered the dispatch to Davis announcing the withdrawal of Army of Northern Virginia from Petersburg on April 2, 1865, and accompanied the President in his journey southward. When Davis was captured near Irwinville, Irwin County, Georgia, Wood managed to escape and joined John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821-May 17, 1875) in his flight through Florida, before sailing in an open boat to Cuba. He spent the remainder of his life in Halifax, Nova Scotia and died on July 19, 1904. Wood is buried in Camp Hill Cemetery in Halifax.