WILLIAM TALIAFERRO HORD, to whom this volume is dedicated, was born March 3d, 1832. He was the son of Judge Francis Triplett Hord (1797-1869), the grandson of Captain Elias Hord (1773-1821), an officer in the War of 1812, the great-grandson of Jesse Hord (1749-1814), and the great- great-grandson of "Thomas Hord, Gentleman" (1701-1766). He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania 1853; entered the United States Navy as Assistant Surgeon in 1854; went to the Mediterranean and served on the frigate "Saranac," visiting Smyrna, Constantinople and the Black Sea during the Crimean War. He was promoted to Past Assistant Surgeon April, 1859, and was attached to various vessels until the beginning of the Civil War, when he was ordered home from the Pacific Squadron and commissioned as Surgeon, in August, i86i. He was a Volunteer Aide on the Staff of General William Nelson from the battle of Pittsburg Landing to the evacuation of Corinth, Mississippi, by General Beauregard. He served also on the steam sloop "Pawnee" of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and participated in several engagements while attached to this vessel. During the year 1863 the "Pawnee" was severely damaged by the explosion of a torpedo. He was detached from the "Pawnee" and ordered to the "Wabash" August 10, 1863, and while on this vessel participated in all the operations against Charleston under General Gilmore and Admirals Dupont and Dahlgren. On August 31, 1864, he was placed in command of the Medical Headquarters of the Mississippi fleet at Mound City, Illinois. On November 8, 1865, he was ordered to the U. S. S. "Monongahela" and was wrecked November 18, 1867, in the famous earthquake and tidal wave at Santa Croix, West Indies, the "Monongahela" being almost entirely destroyed. From 1872 to 1874 he was Fleet Surgeon of the South Atlantic Squadron on board the Flagship "Lancaster." He was commissioned as Medical Inspector July 6, 1872, and was stationed at various Navy Yards until 1879, when he was made commanding officer of the Naval Hospital at Chelsea, Massachusetts. He was in command of the Naval Hospital, Philadelphia, from i886 to 1889. From this duty he was detached and subsequently served at the Navy Department, Washington, D. C., as President of the Board for the Examination of Officers for Promotion and Retirement. He was commissioned Medical Director with the rank of Captain May 1, 1879, and at the time of his retirement from active service at the age designated by law he was the senior officer of his corps. He was a delegate representing the United States Navy at the Congresses of the National Medical Association held at Chicago, in June, 1877; at St. Louis, in May, 1886, and at Cincinnati, in i888. He was invited to act as one of the Vice-Presidents of the Section of Military and Naval Medicine and Surgery at the International Medical Congress held at Washington, D. C., in 1887, composed of the most distinguished physicians from all parts of the world. When Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated President of the United States for the second term Medical Director Hord was appointed a member of the Inaugural Committee of which General Schofield, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, was Chairman. He was. a Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion; a Vestryman of the Church of the Ascension, Washington, D. C.; a member of the Society of Sons of the American Revolution and the Virginia Historical Society. His service in the Navy covered a period of forty-eight years, during which time he visited almost every part of the globe. He married December 4, 1866, Eleanor Harris, daughter of Major Arnold Harris, United States Army, and granddaughter of General Robert Armstrong, who commanded the artillery at the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815, and to whom General Andrew Jackson bequeathed his sword. Medical Director Hord died April i, 1901, and left two sons, the Rev. Arnold Harris Hord and William Taliaferro Hord, M.D. The Hon. John XV. Daniel, United States Senator from Virginia, in a tribute that he paid to his memory at the time of his death, said, He was a good "and magnificent man. He was a distinguished and reliable officer, much esteemed socially and professionally. He was a man of strong attachments, much beloved by his friends and very sociable and hospitable."
In an obituary notice in the "Alumni Register" of the University of Pennsylvania he was described as "a man of most attractive personality, amiable, courteous, kindly, charitable, widely regarded with esteem and affection," and Colonel Felix A. Reeve, Solicitor of the Treasury, in an address before the Grand Army of the Republic, referred to him as one of "an exemplary character, of untainted morals and integrity, unimpeachable veracity, a practical Christian, a good neighbor, a loving husband and father, a loyal friend to the National Union in its supremest trial." He was buried at the National Cemetery at Arlington, near Washington, D. C., with military honors, where it seems fitting that his remains should repose on the banks of the Potomac, in the soil of old Virginia, the home of his ancestors for five generations.