JOHN ELLIS WOOL
PAPERS, 1810-1869
SC15361

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Scope and Contents Note:

The papers of John Ellis Wool are valuable to scholars primarily because he was a disciplined correspondent and nearly a complete record is present of his long and varied military career that commenced with the War of 1812 and concluded with the Civil War. Comprising fifty cubic feet, these papers include letters between Wool and his wife, Sarah; correspondence with friends, relatives, and associates; and numerous official military dispatches, orders, memoranda, and reports. Materials are generally arranged chronologically in three series:
Correspondence, Military Papers, and Bound Record Books.

These papers are especially valuable for the following five areas of interest: (1) The reports and memoranda relating to inspections of military posts that offer insight into the everyday operations of the United States Army during the first half of the nineteenth century. (2) The Cherokee Indian nation transfer expedition, 1836-1837, which provides a well-documented record of how the army acquired and distributed subsistence and other necessary provisions to Indians enroute. In addition, these papers touch upon the controversial treaty of 1835 that mandated Cherokee Indian resettlement and the Army's problem of dealing with disaffected Cherokees. (3) The War between the United States and Mexico, the most extensively documented event in these papers, covering Wool's mobilization of Western volunteers, the march from San Antonio to Saltillo, the Battle of Buena Vista, and the occupation of Monterrey, Mexico. (4) General Wool's command of the Pacific Department from 1854 to 1857, with many details of the confrontation between white settlers and native peoples that developed into a bitter dispute between Wool and the territorial governors of Oregon and Washington. Also, there are materials relating to the controversial arrest of a French consul in accordance with President Franklin Pierce's orders to quash filibusters. (5) General Wool's service during the Civil War, especially his command of the Department of Virginia at Fortress Monroe, that was the principal base of operation for the Union capture of Norfolk.

For these areas along with many other aspects of Wool's military career, his papers are one of the best sources of information on the history of the United States military in the nineteenth century.

Biographical Note:

John Ellis Wool was born February 29, 1784, in Newburgh, Orange County, New York. At an early age, both his parents passed away; thereupon he moved to Troy to live with his grandfather, James Wool. His formal education was limited to that of a country school, and at the age of twelve he entered the store of a Troy merchant and remained with him for six years. During the next decade he worked at various places including the law office of John Russell. When the War of 1812 broke out, he raised and headed a company of volunteers in Troy, and on April 14, 1812, he was commissioned a captain in the 13th Infantry. His troops were engaged in action at the battles of Queenstown and Plattsburgh. In between the battles he was promoted to a major in the 29th Infantry on April 13, 1813, and, afterwards, was brevetted a lieutenant colonel on September 11, 1814. He was made colonel and inspector general of the Army on April 29, 1816, and maintained this grade for more than a quarter of a century. As inspector general, Wool's duties required visits to military posts to ascertain the fighting effectiveness and preparedness of the troops. In 1832 he was sent by the government to Europe to study the military policies and procedures of several nations that could be adopted by the United States Army.

In 1836 Wool was ordered to Cherokee country in Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas to assist General Winfield Scott in transferring the native peoples to Oklahoma in accordance with the terms of a treaty of 1835. It would prove to be a difficult mission as Wool's conduct was called into question by Alabama civil authorities for allegedly seizing private property for subsistence and other provision needed by soldiers and Cherokees. As a result, Wool was recalled from service, but was exonerated by a court of inquiry. Shortly thereafter, Wool was ordered to command troops along the United States-Canada border in northern New York and New England to ensure American neutrality during the Canadian Rebellion. Problems arose from many Canadian refugees and sympathetic Americans who had designs on annexing Canada. They were engaged in cross-border raids and other subversive activities that nearly instigated a conflict with Great Britain. The forces under the command of Wool and others were successful in quelling such activities and thus preserving peace.

The Mexican War of 1846-1848 provided Wool with an opportunity for active and distinguished service. Now a brigadier general, Wool mobilized, trained, and marched his own army, composed mostly of western volunteers, for the invasion of Mexico by land. Placed under the command of General Zachery Taylor as commander-in-chief with Wool second in command, this army won the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847. Wool was commended for his achievement and, in subsequent years, presented with decorative awards of honor by the United States Congress, the State of New York, and the City of Troy.

Then followed quieter years of peace, which were actually a troubled brief interlude between the Mexican War and the Civil War, then already brewing. Wool served as a commander at the Department of the East most of these years allowing him to maintain headquarters in Troy. In 1854, Wool was transferred to the Department of the Pacific, headquartered in San Francisco, California, with orders from President Franklin Pierce to halt filibustering expeditions against Mexico. In the course of duty, Wool placed under arrest the French Consul, Guillaume Patrice Dillon, who was tried for complicity in such activities by a San Francisco jury. This action provoked anger from the French government, which subsequently led the Pierce administration to abandon support of Wool's course in literally carrying out the President's orders. Shortly thereafter, his headquarters were transferred to a bleak part of Benicia, where he would have to contend with the problem of land disputes between white settlers and native people in the Oregon and Washington territories. Having limited manpower and supplies for such a large expanse of territory, Wool's solution was to exclude settlements west of the Cascade Mountains. This action resulted in a bitter dispute with the Oregon and Washington territorial governors, George L. Carry and Isaac Stevens, respectively, who already felt Wool was not responding quickly enough to protect white settlers. Ultimately, Wool was again relieved of command for political reasons.

The Civil War provided Wool one last opportunity for military service. He was seventy-seven years old, and in seniority and rank, he was second only to General Winfield Scott, whose career also dated back to the War of 1812. Despite his advanced age, Wool performed duties of remarkable variety and intensity. As commander of the Department of the East, first from Troy, with its nearby Watervliet Arsenal, and then from New York headquarters, Wool mobilized the resources of the most populous region for military service. Later in 1861, he was moved closer to the front to command the Department of Virginia, with headquarters at Fortress Monroe. There he extended the Union line by the capture of Norfolk, and was quite critical of General George McClellan for his dilatory program in preparing his forces for the capture of Richmond.

General Wool's final tour of duty was in 1863, as military commander of New York City, so important politically and economically for the conduct of the war. Here, he lived through the draft riots, which nearly tore the city apart. He shared with the police and state militia responsibility for suppressing the riots.

Instead of support and commendation for his effort, Wool was retired from active duty on  August 1, 1863, and he returned to Troy, where he stayed for the remainder of the war. Despite his seventy-nine years, he was never fully reconciled to retirement perhaps as much for the manner as the fact of what he regarded as a peremptory dismissal.

From his home in Troy, almost to his death on November 10, 1869, General Wool continued to write long letters to the War Department and General Grant demanding a kind of exoneration, if not reinstatement. On his death, he received a ceremonial funeral befitting a war hero in his hometown. He was survived by his wife Sarah Moulton, whom he had married September 27, 1810. They had no children. She passed away five years later.

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