Major General John E. Wool Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

JOHN E. WOOL (1784-1869) retired from the Army with over 50 years of military service. A veteran of the War of 1812, after war was declared with Mexico in May 1846, Wool organized and supervised the training of volunteers and forwarded some 12,000 troops to General Zachary Taylor. Taylor's second in command at the Battle of Buena Vista, Wool was awarded a vote of thanks and a sword of honor by Congress for his services during the war. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Wool, who had already been a Brigadier General for 20 years, headed the Department of the East. In the early days of the war, Wool and his forces secured Fort Monroe, Virginia, which became the supply depot for General George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. In May 1862, he and his troops assumed command of the Norfolk shipyards, which had been abandoned by the Confederates. After retiring in 1863 as the Army's fourth-ranking general, Wool spent his remaining years in Troy, New York.