General Sir William Wood (1781-1870) was a distinguished British Army officer who served in Europe, North America, and the West Indies. As Lieutenant Colonel of the 85th Regiment of Foot, Wood was severely wounded in 1814 at the battle of...
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General Sir William Wood (1781-1870) was a distinguished British Army officer who served in Europe, North America, and the West Indies. As Lieutenant Colonel of the 85th Regiment of Foot, Wood was severely wounded in 1814 at the battle of Bladensburg, Maryland during the War of 1812, and recuperated there as a prisoner of war. He maintained ties with American friends and was a guest of Benjamin [Ogle] Lowndes (1811-1897) during a visit to Bladensburg in later years. The collection consists of five personal letters written by Wood at Falmouth and London, England, to Benjamin Lowndes at his estate of Blenheim near Bladensburg, Maryland. Wood's letters share news of his own family while inquiring after Lowndes and Pinkney family members, and the Calvert family of Riversdale. He comments generally on American, British and international political news, and expresses his deep affection for the United States. Wood's letter of 1848 October 6 encloses a letter to him written by Robert K. Dawson of the Tithe Office concerning Bostock Hall in Cheshire, an ancestral home of the Lowndes family, and his letter of 1850 June 14 encloses a letter by his wife C.E. [Charlotte Elizabeth] Wood, joining in condolences on the death of Lowndes's sister in May. The name Lowndes is sometimes spelled Loundes.
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