Orlando house flippers find possible Civil War Medal of Honor

Belle Montgomery

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Medal may have been given during Abraham Lincoln's presidency

ORLANDO, Fla. - A pair of house flippers in Orlando believe they found a historic military medal while cleaning out a house they purchased.

Erin and Michael Kara said the house was filled with belongings from the previous owner, who had died.

They said they found what appears to be a U.S. Military Medal of Honor from the Civil War, inside a box.

“We called it the treasure house when we were working on it because there were so many treasures in there," Erin Kara said. “When I saw it, I didn’t even know what it was. But to look it up...
REST OF ARTICLE:https://www.clickorlando.com/news/orlando-house-flippers-find-possible-civil-war-medal-of-honor
 
Apparently one of the great locomotive chase guys. What a find. One does wonder how it came to be in the possession of the deceased.
Indeed it is! I'm just finishing up a great history of the raid called Stealing the General - I'll look up exactly what it has to say about Wood and get back to this. I also intend to post a review of the book in the next few days.

Edit: Contrary to what the article says, NONE of the medals were awarded personally by President Lincoln although he met the first group of recipients shortly afterward. They had been handed out in a brief and informal ceremony in Secretary of War Stanton's office across from the White House. The remainder of the awards were made at various locations in the field, etc. and at least a couple of the raiders never got them at all. Some medals were awarded posthumously to those executed in Atlanta by the Confederate authorities. Unfortunately, at the moment I don't remember which group Wood was a member of.
 
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Medal may have been given during Abraham Lincoln's presidency

ORLANDO, Fla. - A pair of house flippers in Orlando believe they found a historic military medal while cleaning out a house they purchased.

Erin and Michael Kara said the house was filled with belongings from the previous owner, who had died.

They said they found what appears to be a U.S. Military Medal of Honor from the Civil War, inside a box.

“We called it the treasure house when we were working on it because there were so many treasures in there," Erin Kara said. “When I saw it, I didn’t even know what it was. But to look it up...
REST OF ARTICLE:https://www.clickorlando.com/news/orlando-house-flippers-find-possible-civil-war-medal-of-honor
I looked him up in the above mentioned book and found that Mark Wood is one of the raiders about whom relatively little is known. He was an Englishman who enlisted in the 21st Ohio and volunteered for the raid although little is known of his activities during it. He evaded capture for quite a while, making it all the way into northern Alabama where the Union army had just left and there he was taken prisoner and returned to Chattanooga and on to Atlanta. Following the trial and execution of Andrews and seven of the others, those remaining decided after several months to try their luck at escape. Eight managed not only to escape, but to actually reach Union lines. Wood was one of the latter: traveling with another man they went southwest until they reached the Chattahoochee River, secured the first of several crafts, and made it all the way to the Gulf of Mexico where they were rescued by a ship in the Federal Blockading fleet. Wood missed the ceremony in Stanton's office and there is no record of exactly where or when he received the award. Unfortunately for him - and undoubtedly the reason no more is known about him - he was weakened by his experiences including two serious wounds at Chickamauga and Buzzard's Roost after he rejoined his regiment. Following his recovery and mustering out he only lived for another year, dying in 1866.
 
Fantastic Find. There are still relics to be found both below ground and below ground.
 
One does wonder how it came to be in the possession of the deceased.

Erin and Michael Kara said the house was filled with belongings from the previous owner, who had died
Name of the former house owner should be a matter of public record. Reconstruct a family tree, see if it tracks back to Mark Wood.
 
Man, what an incredible story and find. Just reading about the escapes and all had me thinking what a great film this would make. I know there was one made a long time ago, but I've love to see a modern version.

Thanks for sharing!!
 
Man, what an incredible story and find. Just reading about the escapes and all had me thinking what a great film this would make. I know there was one made a long time ago, but I've love to see a modern version.

Thanks for sharing!!
Walt Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase was excellent - for what it was: a Disney movie made in the 1950's starring wooden TV actors. it's entertaining and focuses on the principal Northern (Fess Parker) and Southern (Jeffrey Hunter) leaders of the "chase", using actual period locomotives filmed in a correct North Georgia location. But naturally the plot is (over)simplified and focuses almost entirely on the chase itself, with only a little follow-up on the fate of the raiders and award of the first medals. Not until I recently finished and reviewed Stealing the General https://www.civilwartalk.com/threads/stealing-the-general-by-russell-s-bonds.155333/ did I realize how much more there was to the story! The ordeal of the twenty-four who were captured, and those among them who were tried and executed, and those who escaped or waited in uncertainty until their eventual exchange indeed read like a suspense and/or adventure novel!
 
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Walt Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase was excellent - for what it was: a Disney movie made in the 1950's starring wooden TV actors. it's entertaining and focuses on the principal Northern (Fess Parker) and Southern (Jeffrey Hunter) leaders of the "chase", using actual period locomotives filmed in a correct North Georgia location. But naturally the plot is (over)simplified and focuses almost entirely on the chase itself, with only a little follow-up on the fate of the raiders and award of the first medals. Not until I recently finished and reviewed Stealing the General https://www.civilwartalk.com/threads/stealing-the-general-by-russell-s-bonds.155333/ did I realize how much more there was to the story! The ordeal of the twenty-four who were captured, and those among them who were tried and executed, and those who escaped or waited in uncertainty until their eventual exchange indeed read like a suspense and/or adventure novel!

That's awesome. I'm going to read that asap. I can't wait! Thank you!
 
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