MAJOR GENERAL LEONARD WOOD
1860-1927
Quick Facts on MG Wood
Graduated Harvard Medical School at 23
Joined the Army as a contract surgeon to fight
in the last of the Apache Wars in 1885.
Awarded a Medal of Honor in 1898 for valor
after the Apache Wars.
Commanded the “Rough Riders” with
Theodore Roosevelt.
Helped reform Cuba as governor after the
Spanish-American War
First and only medical officer to serve as the
Army’s Chief of Staff
Governor General of the Philippines.
Maj. Gen. Wood in the twilight of his career. His last command,
Governor General of the Philippines from 1921-1927
Hours of Operation:
0800-1600 Monday - Friday
1000- 1600 Saturday
Closed Federal Holidays
Free of Charge, Open to the Public
Address:
Fort Leonard Wood Museum
14296 South Dakota Avenue
Building 1607
Fort Leonard Wood, MO 65473
Telephone: 573-596-0780
LT Wood proved himself a worthy soldier in the Apache Wars
Early Life and Career
Leonard Wood was born to
Charles Jewett Wood and Caro-
line; wealthy New Englanders,
on 9 October 1860, in Winches-
ter, New Hampshire. The Wood
family soon settled in the Cape
Cod area of Massachusetts where
Leonard attended the Pierce
Academy. At the age of 20,
Wood entered Harvard Medical
School. He graduated in 1883
and spent several years practicing
medicine in Boston and New
York City. Eventually, Wood
found private medicine to be unfulfilling and took the Army
Medical Entrance Exam in 1885. Of the 59 hopeful medical
officers, Wood scored second highest on the exam. Eager to
begin his army career, Lieutenant Wood accepted orders to
Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He excelled in the brutal climate and
terrain of the southwest and quickly earned the respect of his
more experienced comrades. During the campaign against Ge-
ronimo, Wood served as a medical and line officer with gal-
lantry and excellence and was awarded a Medal of Honor in
1898 for these actions
Spanish-American War
In the late 1890s, Wood headed to Washington, DC,
where he served as the personal physician to Presidents
Grover Cleveland and William McKinley and their fami-
lies, the last medical position of his career. Leonard
Wood met and became good friends with Theodore Roo-
sevelt during this time. The relationship led to the crea-
tion of the 1st Volunteer Cavalry Regiment, led by Colo-
nel Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt.
Wood commanded the “Rough Riders” pragmatically and
proactively. He ensured his soldiers had the best equip-
ment for the job by working harder than the members of
the bureaucracy in place at the time. Colonel Wood com-
manded his regiment in Cuba successfully, but only brief-
ly. He shortly received a field promotion to Brigadier
General after his superior became ill. Wood assumed
command of the 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division for the
remainder of the war.
General Wood received his regular promotion to Briga-
dier General at the end of hostilities and served as the
Military Governor of Cuba from 1900 to 1902. In this
position, he used his medical experience to improve the
medical and sanitary conditions of the country. He also
instituted political, social, and educational reforms.
Leonard Wood after graduating
from Harvard
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and Colonel Wood at the regimental training camp in San Antonio, May 1898
Contributions as CSA
General Wood was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army
in 1910 and remains the only medical officer to ever hold
the position. It was in this position that Wood made his
greatest contributions to the Army and the Nation. He
strengthened the General Staff and firmly established the
Chief of Staff as the senior officer of the Army. He also
reduced the influence of the old bureau system which had
hindered military reforms. He was instrumental in devel-
oping the Maneuver Division and the Mobile Army con-
cept. As a result, the Army formed its first truly combined
arms divisions. This allowed the American Army to fight
as a force in the battles and campaigns of the Great War,
WWI.
Later Life and Death
Following the war, Wood made a bid for the Republican
nomination for the election of 1920. Even with supporters
of his old friend Theodore Roosevelt, Wood lost the nomi-
nation to Warren Harding. His decision to stop campaign-
ing and go to Gary, Indiana, to quell a steel strike, left him
outmaneuvered by the party professionals. Retiring from
the Army in 1921, Wood was appointed by Harding as
Governor General of the Philippines, a post to which he
was ideally suited. In May 1927 he returned home from
Manila and sought medical attention for a tumor caused
by a head injury a quarter century earlier. He quietly en-
tered the Brigham Hospital in Boston and died there on
August 7, 1927.