WOOD, LEONARD (186o-1927), American soldier, was born at Winchester, N.H., Oct. 9, 186o. He graduated from the Harvard medical school in 1884, was appointed acting assistant surgeon, U.S. army, in 1885, becoming assistant surgeon with the rank of first-lieutenant in 1886, when he was assigned to Capt. Lawton's expedition against the Apaches in the South-west, re sulting in the capture of Geronimo. For distinguished services he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour. In 1891 he was promoted captain and full surgeon, and later, while stationed in Washington, D.C., became the close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant-Secretary of the Navy. On the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898 Wood was commissioned colonel st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (the famous Rough Riders) with Roosevelt as lieutenant-colonel. For conduct at Las Guasimas and San Juan Hill, Wood was promoted brigadier-general, July 1898, and in Dec. major-general of volunteers. He was military gov ernor of Cuba from 1899 to 1902, when the Cuban Republic was established. He was appointed brigadier-general U.S.A. Feb. 19o1. In 1903 he was sent to the Philippines and appointed governor of the Moro province, being promoted major-general in that year. In 1908 he returned to America as commander of the Eastern De partment. In 1910 he was appointed chief of staff, U.S. Army, serving until 1914, when he was again given command of the East ern Department.
Gen. Wood as early as 1908 had urged preparedness. To him was largely due the establishment of a summer camp at Plattsburg for training civilian officers, which was taken as a model for other camps of the kind after America's entrance into the World War. Just before America's entrance into the World
War in 1917 Gen. Wood was assigned to the South-eastern Division but was later transferred to Camp Funston, where he trained the 89th Div., N.A., the loth Div. of the regular army and other troops. In 1919 he was put in command of the Central Department, with headquarters at Chicago. In 1920 he was a prominent candi date for the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention. Harding, a "dark horse," was nominated on the loth ballot, with 6921 votes to 156 for Gen. Wood. In 1921 Gen. Wood was sent at the head of the Wood-Forbes mission to the Philippine islands. Prior to leaving he was appointed head of the University of Pennsylvania, but did not assume charge because of the President's desire that he should remain in the Philippines as governor-general, a position which he held from Oct. 1921 until his death which occurred in Boston, Mass., on Aug. 7, 1927. Wood was the author of The Military Obligation of Citizenship, lectures at Princeton and elsewhere (1915) ; Our Military History, Its Facts and Fallacies (1916) ; Universal Military Training (1917); and America's Duty as Shown by Our Military History (1921).
See I. F. Marcosson, Leonard Wood, Prophet of Preparedness (1917) ; Joseph H. Sears, The Career of Leonard Wood 0919) ; and Leonard Wood on National Issues (1920), compiled by Evan J. David ; Herman Hagedorn, That Human Being, Leonard Wood (1920) ; Walter Robb, The Khaki Cabinet and Old Manila (1926) .