Born in Virginia, Robert Clifton Wood moved with his family to Marshall, Missouri in 1842. Wood worked as a merchant in Marshall and then in New Mexico. Moving to Sacramento, California, Wood engaged in stock trading and then ranching. Wood was a noted Indian fighter and participated in Henry Crabb’s Filibustering Expedition into Sonora, Mexico. In 1861, Wood returned to Missouri and joined the Missouri State Guard, becoming the major in Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s bodyguard. Wood was promoted to colonel and served as an aide de camp on General Price’s staff. When Price transferred into the Confederate army in March 1862, Wood went with him as a lieutenant on his staff. Wood was promoted to captain on February 27, 1863 and then major of the 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion on September 25, 1863. Wood was promoted to lieutenant colonel and led the battalion during Price’s 1864 Missouri Raid. After the retreat from Westport, the battalion was reorganized at the 13th Missouri Cavalry (CSA) with Wood as colonel. Sometime after Price’s command had returned to Arkansas, Wood got into an argument with Price’s adjutant, Lt. Col. Lauchlan A. Maclean, and stabbed him to death. Wood was tried and convicted of murder but the Confederate commander, Maj. Gen. John B. Magruder, voided the sentence. Wood was paroled on July 27, 1865, in Columbus, Texas. After the war, Wood was a rancher in Texas, Missouri and Arizona.
McGhee, Guide to Missouri Confederate Units, 1861-1865, 102-105.
Allardice, Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register, 405-406.
“A Hardy Civil War Veteran: Col. Robert C. Wood of the Mule Packers Camp.” St. Louis Globe-Democrat. August 27, 1898.
Wikipedia. “Crabb Massacre,” December 5, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crabb_massacre.
Monnett, Action Before Westport, 1864,140; OR s1 v48 p1, 858.