William Burnham Woods

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William Burnham Woods

William Burnham Woods (born August 3, 1824 in Newark , Ohio , † May 14, 1887 in Washington, DC ) was an American lawyer and politician of the Democratic Party who was brigadier general in the US Army during the Civil War and later as a judge on US Court of Appeals and most recently at the US Supreme Court .

Life

Lawyer and Democratic Politician

After attending Western Reserve College, Woods studied at Yale University and graduated in 1845. He then studied law at a law firm in Newark, where he also worked as a lawyer after being admitted to the state of Ohio in 1847 .

In addition, he began a political career in the Democratic Party in the mid-1850s and was elected mayor of Newark in both 1856 and 1857 . In 1858 he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives and, after being sworn in, became its President ( Speaker ). In 1859 he was re-elected as a member of parliament.

Brigadier General in the Civil War

Shortly after the start of the Civil War, he began his military service as a lieutenant colonel in the 76th Volunteer Regiment in Ohio and, with the exception of a few months, served on various frontline missions until the end of the war. During the war he took part in the Battle of Shiloh (April 1862) and the battles of Chickasaw Bayou (December 1862) and Fort Hindman (January 1863),

Between May and July 1863 he also took part in the Battle of Vicksburg and in the subsequent Jackson expedition of William T. Sherman in July 1863, where he was commanding a division of march to sea . He then participated in the battles of Resaca (May 1864), Dallas (May and June 1864), Atlanta (July 1864), Lovejoy's Station (August 1864), Jonesborough (September 1864) and the Battle of Bentonville (March 1865). After he received the brevet rank of brigadier general on January 12, 1865 , he received the rank of major general of the volunteer troops on March 13, 1865 and was finally promoted to brigadier general of the regular troops on May 31, 1865. On March 17, 1866, he retired from active military service.

Judge at the US Court of Appeals and the US Supreme Court

He then settled as a cotton planter in Alabama , resumed his practice as a lawyer and was involved in the reconstruction of the state. From 1867 to 1869 he was also judge of the Middle Chancery Division there.

In 1869, Woods, who was now close to the Republican Party , was appointed judge of the US Court of Appeals for the fifth judicial district and held this office until 1880. He was then on December 15, 1880, from US President Rutherford B. Hayes to an alderman Appointed Justice to the US Supreme Court and officially took office on January 5, 1881 , after confirmation by the US Senate on December 22, 1880, to succeed William Strong . He held the office of Associate Judge until his death on May 14, 1887 and was then replaced by Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar .

He was buried in Newark's Cedar Hill Cemetery .

His younger brother Charles R. Woods also served as a brigadier general in the US Army during the Civil War.

See also

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Woods, William Burnham
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer, politician and brigadier general in the Civil War
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Newark , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1887
Place of death Washington, DC