Evening star., 1898-07-23
THE LATE LIEUT.. ORD.
Sad Circumstances Of His Death in
Front of Santiago.

Among the list of the gallant officers of
cur army who perished in the terrific bat
tie of assault on the Spanish outworks of
Santiago on the 1st and I'd of July last
was First Lieut.. Jules Garesche Ord of
the 9th United States Infantry. He was
serving as an aid on the staff Of Gen.
Hawkins and perished in the assault and
capture of the strongly fortified hill of San
Juan on Saturday, July 2.
Garesche Ord, as he was best known to
his friends, was the youngest son of the
late Maj. Gen. Edward Q. c. Ord, United
States army, and was called after Col.
Julius P. Garesche, assistant adjutant gen
eral, United States army, who perished as
chief of staff of Gen. Rosecrans at the
bloody battle of Murfreesboro' or Stone
river, Tennessee, December 81, 1862, and
whom his father had known as a friend,
and for whose memory he had profound
respect and attachment. A strange coinci-
dence is that his first battle proved his
last; for Col. Garesche was killed In his
very first battle.
Lieut.. Ord had spent a great part of his
life in San Antonio, Texas, his father being
in command of the Department of Texas,
with headquarters a San Antonio for some
years prior to his retirement in 1SS1-from
1874 to 1SS1-and subsequently Lieut.. Ord's
company being on duty at Fort San Hous-
ton, near San Antonio.
Lieut.. Ord entered the service as a pri-
vate in 1887, and was afterward promoted
to be a quartermaSter sergeant IN the 1st
United States Infantry, the regiment that
Gen. Shafter commanded formerly. He
subsequently, passed the necessary eXam-
nation and was appointed to a second lieu
tenancy in the 18th United States Infantry
November 6, 1890. In 1897 he was promoted
to a first lieutenancy and assigned to Com
pany c, 9th United States Infantry, which
He leaves two married brothers; one, Capt.
E. o. c. Ord, jr., an officer Of the army,
and the other, James, living in Mexico;
and two married sisters, one living in
Texas, and the other, Mrs. John s. Ma
SON. jr., the widow of an army officer, who
died out west some few years ago and who
with her children had for years made her
home with Lieut.. Ord.
Lieut. Ord was a gallant young officer,
very much devoted to his profession, full
of enthusiasm, and very popular with his
men. He was reported by Gen. Shafter in
his first dispatch to the War Department
as having been killed on the first day of
the assault on Santiago, namely, on Fri
day, July 1. And the newspapers all stated
this fact in their headlines among the list
of the casualties But in another part of
the papers appeared a paragraph stating
that he was not dead and that he had just
telegrphed home to his sisters, Mrs. Ma
son. at Fort Thomas. KY, near Louisville,
stating that che was alive and well, and
was on the staff of Gen. Hawkins, and had
not been in the fight at all. It was Pc
culiarly sad, therefore. that he should In
trutn perish on the IOlfOWnS day. HIS
death is described as follows in the New
York Times: HE was an aid on the
staff of General Hawkins. and throughout
the day of the battle was active and en-
ergetic in getting the troops up to the line
He was right In the front line when the
9th, 18th, Gath and 10th Regiments made
their desperate charge on San Juan hill,
and was one Of the first officers to react.
the summit.
Just as he passed the brow Of the hill
he saw a Spaniard lying on the ground,
and, pointing to him, he said, Take care
Of that man. The Spaniard saw the mo-
ton. and. evidently thinking Lieut.. Ord
was ordering him killed, he raised his rifle
and shot the lieutenant dead.
THE soldiers of the 9th Infantry, as
Lieut. Ord was an officer of that regiment
and very popular, were wild with rage, and
literally tore the body of the Spaniard to
pieces with bullets. Then they kicked 1t
into trench"