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Edward Ord

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Edward Ord

Edward Otho Cresap Ord (October 18 1818 – July 22 1883) was the designer of Fort Sam Houston, and a U.S. Army officer who saw action in the Seminole War, the Indian Wars, and the Civil War.

Early life and career

Ord was born in Cumberland, Maryland, the son of James and Rebecca Ord. Some accounts claim that he was a grandson of King George IV of England. He was considered a mathematical genius and was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy by President Andrew Jackson. His roommate at West Point was future general William T. Sherman. He graduated in 1839 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery. He fought in the Seminole Indian wars in Florida and was promoted to first lieutenant.

In January 1847, he sailed on the steamship Lexington around Cape Horn with Henry Halleck and William T. Sherman. He arrived in Monterey, California, and assumed command of Battery F, 3rd U.S. Artillery, with orders to complete Fort Mervine, which was renamed fort Halleck. The fort's construction was superintended by Lieutenant Edward Ortho Cresap Ord and his second in command Lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman. On February 17, 1865, the fort was renamed Ord Barracks. The fort is now known as the Presidio of Monterey.

Ord was in California when the gold rush began, with its resultant skyrocketing prices. Since their military salaries no longer covered living expenses, Ord's commander suggested that the younger officers take on other jobs to supplement their income. At about this time, Los Angeles officials needed to have a survey of the public lands in order to sell them, and Ord was hired as the surveyor. He chose William Hutton as his assistant, and together the two mapped Los Angeles in July and August 1849. Thanks to the efforts of these two men, historians have a fairly good view of what the pueblo of Los Angeles looked like at the middle of the 19th century. Lieutenant Ord surveyed the pueblo and his assistant William Rich Hutton sketched many scenes of the pueblo and drew the first map from Ord's survey. The Los Angeles City Archives has the original map produced by Hutton from Ord's survey. Ord was paid $3000 for his work on this survey.

Ord was promoted to captain, in 1850, while serving in the Pacific Northwest. He married Mary Mercer Thompson on October 14 1854, and they had thirteen children.

In 1859, while attending artillery school at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Ord was summoned by Secretary of War John B. Floyd to quell John Brown's raid on the Harpers Ferry federal arsenal. However, Brevet Colonel Robert E. Lee reached Harpers Ferry first, and Colonel Lee telegraphed to Captain Ord that the situation was under control and Ord and his men would not be needed at Harpers Ferry. They were instructed to halt at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.

Civil War

After the outbreak of the Civil War, his first assignment was as a brigade commander in the Pennsylvania Reserves. In this capacity, he figured prominently in the Battle of Dranesville in the fall of 1861.

On May 3, 1862, Ord was promoted to the rank of major general and commanded the 2nd Division of the Army of the Tennessee at Corinth. Although he was seriously wounded at Battle of Hatchie's Bridge in Mississippi, he returned to duty and commanded the XIII Corps during the last part of the Vicksburg Campaign. During the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign, he commanded the XVIII Corps and was seriously wounded in the attack on Fort Harrison, where he was seriously wounded and he did not return to action until January 1865. On March 13, 1865, he was promoted to the rank of Brig. General in the regular Army for his role in the Battle of Hatchie and a Brevet Major General of volunteers for the assault of Ft. Harrison. He was in command of the Army of the James during the Appomattox Campaign. On April 9, 1865, he led a forced march to Appomattox to relieve General Sheridan's Calvary and force Lee's surrender. General Sherman said that he "had always understood that his (Ord's) skillful, hard march the night before was one of the chief causes of Lee's surrender"

Ord was present at Appomattox courthouse when Robert E. Lee surrendered, and is often pictured in paintings of this event. When the surrender ceremony was complete, Ord purchased the marble topped table at which Lee had sat as a souvenier of the ceremony. He paid $40 for the table. It now resides in the Chicago Historical Society's Civil War Room.

Postbellum

During Reconstruction, he was assigned by General Grant the command of the Army of Occupation headquartered at Richmond. Subsequently, he was assigned to the Dept. of Ohio until he was mustered out of the volunteers in September, 1866. On December 11, 1865, he received the Commissions of Lt. Col. and Brig. General in the regular Army for the Battle of Hatchie and Brevet Major General of volunteers for the assault of Ft. Harrison. Subsequently, he had command of the Dept. of Arkansas, the Fourth Military District, and the Department of California.

From December 11, 1871, to April 11, 1875, Ord was commander of the Department of the Platte. He was then reassigned as the commander of the Department of Texas from April 11, 1875, until his retirement on December 6, 1880. While he was stationed in Texas, he supervised the construction of Fort Sam Houston.

In January 1872, Ord was a member of the buffalo hunting excursion with the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia on the plains of southwest Nebraska with American celebrities of the day. They included Philip Sheridan, second in command of the United States Army, George Armstrong Custer, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Texas Jack Omohundro.

Ord retired from the army in 1880 with the rank of Brevet Major General, and at this time, General Sherman wrote of him "He has had all the hard knocks of service, and never was on soft or fancy duty. He has always been called on when hard duty was expected, and never flinched". In 1881, Ord accepted an appointment with the Mexican Southern Railroad owned by U.S. Grant and Jay Gould as Civil Engineer to build a line from Texas to Mexico City. He died in Havana, Cuba, from yellow fever. On the occasion of his death, General Sherman said of Ord, "As his intimate associate since boyhood, the General here bears testimony of him that a more unselfish, manly, and patriotic person never lived". He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The former Fort Ord in Monterey, California, was named for him. Ord, Nebraska, was named in his honor while he was serving as commander of the District of the Platte.

References

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