HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.
599
ing the siege of Savannah and the forcing of the Salkahatchie, where he distinguished himself, as also in the taking of Columbia, Fayetteville, Cheraw, Raleigh and Bentonville. At the latter place he had a horse shot under him and won the brevet rank of Major for gallantry in the field, having previously been commissioned Captain of Company A of his regiment. He also served on the staffs of Gens. Giles A. Smith, Benjamin F. Potts, and William W. Belknap, and was the last mustering officer in General Sherman's army. In 1867 Major Woods removed to Chicago, where he was in business for a number of years, serving as chief clerk of Custom House construction from 1872 to 1877. In 1879 he purchased "The Daily Republican" at Joliet, which he conducted successfully for fifteen years. While connected with "The Republican/' he served as Secretary of the Illinois Republican Press Association and in various other positions.
Major Woods was one of the founders of the Grand Army of the Republic, whose birth-place was in Illinois. (See Grand Army of the Republic; also Stephenson, Dr. B. F.) When Dr. Stephenson (who had been Surgeon of the Fourteenth Illinois Infantry), conceived the idea of founding such an order, he called to his assistance Major Woods, who was then engaged in writing the histories of Illinois regiments for the Adjutant-General's Report. The Major wrote the Constitution and By-laws of the Order, the charter blanks for all the reports, etc. The first official order bears his name as the first Adjutant-General of the Order, as follows:
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF ILLINOIS GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
SPRING FIELD, ILL., APRIL 1, 1866.
GENERAL ORDERS I
No. 1. The following named officers are hereby
appointed and assigned to duty at these headquarters. They will be obeyed and respected accordingly:
Colonel Jules C. Webber, A.D.C. and Chief of Staff.
Colonel John K. Snyder, Quartermaster-General.
Major Robert M. Woods, Adjutant-General.
Captain John A. Lightfoot, Assistant Adjutant-General.
Captain John S. Phelps, Aid-de-Camp.
By order of B. P. Stephenson, Department Commander,
ROBERT M. WOODS,
Adjutant-General.
Major Woods afterwards organized the various Departments in the West, and it has been conceded that he furnished the money necessary to carry on the work during the first six months of the existence of the Order. He has never accepted a nomination or run for any political office, but is now enga
