Alfred Covell Woods (Clifford Woods) was born around 1843, probably in New York. By the early 1860s, he was living in Crown Point, New York. He enlisted in the Union army in May 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company C of the 62nd New York Infantry. He was promoted to corporal later that year, and then to sergeant on January 8, 1864. The regiment took part in the Battle of Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ Battles, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Overland Campaign. In November 1863, he told his aunt that he was “sick of seeing so much blood spilled and so many lives sacrificed.” Nonetheless, he remained devoted to the Union cause, writing that it was his “duty to again volunteer in our Country’s service,” because he was “young strong and healthy with no one depending upon me for support at Home.” He was killed in action on May 5, 1864, in the Battle of the Wilderness.