I first came across Leonard Wood when I was researching American Indians ... a very interesting man ! He was medically trained and was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars while serving as an Assistant Surgeon in the Apache Campaign of the Summer of 1886. In 1895, he was the White House Physician to President Grover Cleveland. He began his long friendship with Theodore Roosevelt during his years in Washington. During the Spanish-American War he was the commander of the First Volunteer Cavalry (The Rough Riders) - Roosevelt was his second-in-command. Following the war, he served as Military Governor of Cuba until 1902. As a Brigadier General he fought the Moros during the Philippine Insurrection in 1904 and less than a year later he was named Army Chief of Staff by President William Howard Taft (who he knew in the Philippines where Taft served as Civilian Governor). In less than a decade, he had jumped from a Captain in the Medical Corps to the highest post in the Army. He resigned that position in 1914. When World War I broke out, he became a vocal advocate for preparedness. He hoped to be Secretary of War, but was not appointed. In 1927 he returned home from Manila to seek medical attention of a tumor resulting from an earlier head injury. He died on the operating table of a Boston hospital on August 7, 1927. He is buried in Section 21 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Louise Adriana Wood (1869-1943), his son, Leonard Wood, Jr. Captain, Infantry, United States Army, 1892-1931, his daughter, Louise Barbara Wood (born at Havana, Cuba - 1900-1960), and his son, Osborn Cutler Wood, Colonel, United States Army (20 January 1897-8 February 1950), are buried with him. November 28, 1960 - Louise B. Wood, daughter of the late Major General Leonard Wood, died of a heart attack yesterday morning at her home at 70 Haven Avenue, New York. Her age was 60. She had a summer home at Pocasset, Massachusetts. Miss Wood's father was Colonel of the First United States Volunteer Cavalry, the Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War. She was born in Cuba, when her father was military governor of the island. In World War I she did relief work in France. After her father was an unsuccessful candidate for the 1920 Republican Presidential nomination, Miss Wood went with him the next year to the Philippines, where he was governor-general until his death in 1927. WOOD, LEONARD SR MAJ GEN US ARMY RETIRED VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown DATE OF DEATH: 08/06/1927 DATE OF INTERMENT: 08/09/1927 BURIED AT: SECTION SPEC SITE LOT NO 1 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WOOD, LEONARD JR CAP CAV VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown DATE OF DEATH: 08/27/1931 DATE OF INTERMENT: 08/31/1931 BURIED AT: SECTION SPEC SITE 10 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WOOD, LOUISE B D/O LEONARD SR DATE OF BIRTH: 03/29/1900 DATE OF DEATH: 11/26/1960 DATE OF INTERMENT: 01/21/1960 BURIED AT: SECTION 21 SITE S-10 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY DAUGHTER OF LEONARD WOOD SR - MAJ GEN WOOD, LOUISE W/O LEONARD DATE OF DEATH: 01/28/1943 DATE OF INTERMENT: 02/01/1943 BURIED AT: SITE 810 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WIFE OF LEONARD WOOD - MAJOR GEN USARMY RET WOOD, OSBORN CUTLER COL, USA VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown DATE OF BIRTH: 01/20/1897 DATE OF DEATH: 01/30/1950 DATE OF INTERMENT: 02/08/1950 BURIED AT: SECTION 22 SITE S-10 ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY WOOD, LEONARD Rank and organization: Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army. Place and date: In Apache campaign, summer of 1886. Entered service at: Massachusetts. Birth: Winchester, New Hampshire. Date of issue: 8 April 1898. Citation: Voluntarily carried dispatches through a region infested with hostile Indians, making a journey of 70 miles in one night and walking 30 miles the next day. Also for several weeks, while in close pursuit of Geronimo's band and constantly expecting an encounter, commanded a detachment of Infantry, which was then without an officer, and to the command of which he was assigned upon his own request. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lwood.htm
