Biographical note
Noted military officer Edward Otho Cresap Ord (1818-1883) was born in Cumberland, Maryland, on October 18, 1818, the son of James Ord and Rebecca Ruth (Cresap) Ord. After receiving a West Point appointment from the District of Columbia, Edward Ord graduated from the military academy in 1839. Prior to the American Civil War, he served in the Seminole War, the Mexican War in California, and the American Indian wars. On October 14, 1854, he married Mary Mercer Thompson. Ord saw extensive action in the Civil War, most significantly as commander in one of the North's earliest victories at Dranesville, Virginia; as a prominent participant in the siege of Vicksburg; and as a major force in the final drive against Richmond and Petersburg that culminated in Appomattox. After the war, Ord commanded the departments of Arkansas, California, Texas, and the Platte. In 1881, he retired from the army. Edward Otho Cresap Ord I died in Cuba in 1883. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. [Sources: Cresap, Bernarr. "Appomattox Commander: The Story of General E.O.C. Ord." San Diego: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1981. Sifakis, Stewart. "Who Was Who in the Civil War." New York: Facts on File, 1988, p. 478. "Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume, 1607-1896." Chicago: Marquis, 1963, p. 387.] - Note: The Georgetown University Library Special Collections Division owns a copy of Bernarr Cresap's book "Appomattox Commander: The Story of General E.O.C. Ord." It is part of the Special Collections' Rare Book Collection. Edward Otho Cresap Ord II (1858-1923), the son of Edward Otho Cresap Ord and Mary Mercer (Thompson) Ord, was born on November 9, 1858, at Benicia Barracks, California. After attending public schools in San Francisco and Omaha, he was appointed to the U.S. naval academy in 1876, only to withdraw a year later. In 1879, however, Ord became a second lieutenant in the 22d infantry. He soon saw action in the American Indian campaign in Texas and the campaign against Sitting Bull in 1891-1892. His 22d infantry was among the first American troops to enter Cuba in the Spanish-American War in 1898, and his unit experienced heavy fighting. Following duty suppressing a rebellion in the Philippines, Ord retired from the army on account of disabilities sustained in Cuba. Ord continued his military pursuits, however, as he worked as a military aid to the Arizona governor and served on the Mexican border. In 1918, he retired to California. Edward Otho Cresap Ord II died on April 4, 1923, at Eagle Rock, California. [Sources: "National Cyclopedia of American Biography." Vol. 25. New York: James T. White & Co., 1936, p. 445.] Born in 1886 in Fort Lewis, Colorado, James Garesche Ord graduated from West Point in 1909, served as aide to the commander of the First Corps in France during World War I, administered Fort Washington in Maryland from 1934 to 1937, and led the 57th Regiment in the Philippines prior to World War II. During the Second World War, he commanded the First Infantry Division, the 28th Infantry Division at Camp Livingston, Louisiana, and the effort to train and equip the Brazilian Expeditionary Forces in Italy. James Garesche Ord died in April 1960.
Sources: Obituary: "Washington Star." 17 April 1960. Biographical information on James Ord and James Placidus Ord is included in the Ord Family Papers: Part 1. The Georgetown University Archives preserves the records of Ord family members who attended Georgetown University. A good source for brief biographical information about Mexican military figure Geronimo Trevino, who married Edward Otho Cresap Ord's daughter Roberta Augusta Ord in 1880, is the following: "Encyclopedia de Mexico." Tomo 13. Ciudad de Mexico: Enciclopedia de Mexico: Secretaria de Education Publica, 1987-1988, p. 7832-7833.
