Mary, I have serious doubts about parts of the history in "Illustrated History..." Arkansas newspapers of the era list Wood as being from Carroll County, Ark., at the outbreak of the Mexican War (1846). I don't think that he was "an hour late" getting to Little Rock, because the companies mustered into the regiment at Washington, Ark. He did raise a company composed mostly of north Arkansas men for the 12th Infantry and led (at least) four companies in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco, Aug. 19 & 20, 1847, for which he earned a brevet major from General Winfield Scott. His company was in Mexico as part of the occupation forces into 1848. You can find a little more about the Arkansans in that war at http://www.oldstatehouse.com/ Good luck in your research on Wood.