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WOODS, William Burnham, soldier, born in Newark, Licking County, Ohio, 3 August, 1824; died in Washington, D. C., 14 May, 1887. His father, Ezekiel S. Woods, was a native of Kentucky, of Scotch-Irish parentage. The son was educated at Western Reserve college and at Yale, where he was graduated in 1845. He afterward studied law in his native place, and practised there, was elected mayor of Newark in 1856 and 1857, and in the latter year was chosen to the Ohio legislature. He was elected speaker of the house in 1858, and reelected to the legislature in 1859. Soon after the opening of the civil war he entered the National army as lieutenant-colonel of the 76th Ohio volunteers, and from November. 1861, till the close of the war he was continuously at the front, except for a period of three months. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post (where he was slightly wounded), Resaca, Dallas, Atlanta, Jonesboro', Lovejoy Station, and Bentonville. He was also present at the sieges of Vicksburg and Jackson, and commanded a division in General William T. Sherman's march to the sea. He was appointed brevet brigadier-general of volunteers, 12 January, 1865 ; brevet major-general of volunteers, 13 March, 1865; full brigadier-general, 31 May, 1865; and on 17 February, 1866, was mustered out of the service. Upon leaving the army, Gen Woods engaged in cotton -planting in Alabama, resuming at the same time the practice of law, and taking an active part in the reconstruction of the state, of which he became chancellor in 1868. In 1869 he was appointed United States judge for the 5th circuit, and on 15 December, 1880, was nominated by President Hayes an associate justice of the United States supreme court, being confirmed on 22 December--His brother, Charles Robert, soldier, born in Newark, Ohio, 19 February, 1827; died there, 26 February, 1885, was graduated at the United States military academy in 1852, appointed brevet 2d lieutenant of infantry, and served on garrison and frontier duty till 1861. In the attempt to relieve Fort Stouter in April of that year, he commanded the troops on the steamer "Star of the West," and he was appointed colonel of the 76th Ohio volunteers, 13 October, 1861. He was at Fort Donelson and Shihoh, and commanded a brigade during the siege of Corinth, and a regiment in the Vicksburg campaign. He was recommended for promotion for bravery at Arkansas Post, and became a brigadier-general of volunteers, 4 August, 1863, leading a brigade in the 15th corps at Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge. In the campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas he commanded a division in the same corps. He was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, 4 August, 1863, brevetted major-general, 22 November, 1864, made brevet brigadier- and major-general in the United States army, 13 March, 1865, and mustered out of the volunteer service, 1 September, 1866. He was transferred to the 27th infantry, 27 September, 1866, and during the latter part of the same year was on the plains fighting Indians and guarding railways. He became colonel of the 2d infantry, 23 March, 1874, and was retired on 15 December of the same year. He was familiarly known in the army as "Susan Wood," a name that had been applied to him when he was a cadet at the military academy.
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