In April 1865 Woodgate was commissioned into the 4th (King's Own) Regiment of Foot, which in 1881 was renamed the
King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment). He served in the
Abyssinian War 1868 (and was present at the action of Arogee and the capture of Magdala), then the
Ashanti War from 1873 to 1874 (where he took part in the actions of Esaman, Ainsah, Abrakampa, and Faysunah, the
battle of Amoaful, and the capture of Kumassi), for which he was
mentioned in despatches. After Staff College in 1877, he took part in the
Anglo-Zulu War 1879, where he was again mentioned in despatches for his work as staff officer of the Flying column in the campaign, and received a
brevet promotion to
major. From 1880 to 1885 he served as a brigade major in the West Indies, subsequently returning to regimental duties. In 1893 he was appointed in command of the 1st battalion of his regiment, and in 1897 he relinquished this position to take charge of the 4th Regimental District at
Lancaster. Less than a year later, he was in April 1898 specially sent to Sierra Leone to organize the new West African Regiment (later reorganized into the
West African Field Force), which soon was involved in fighting against Bai Bureh. By now a colonel, Woodgate returned hom in 1899 to take command of the 17th District at Leicester. He had only held the Leicester-command four months, when after the outbreak of the
Second Boer War he was appointed in command of the 11th
brigade of the
5th Division. At the
Battle of Spion Kop he commanded a large force that was sent to capture the strategic hill in a night assault on 23 January 1900. The next morning a shell splinter struck Woodgate's head above the right eye. He suffered a brain injury associated with a shattered orbit. ==Honours and awards==