Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Ord a Cumberland, Maryland, ɗan James da Rebecca Ord. Al'adar iyali ta sanya James Ord ɗan da ba shi da izini na George IV na Burtaniya da Maria Fitzherbert amma da alama ya kasance ɗan Ralph Ord, wanda aka yi masa baftisma a Wapping, Middlesex, a 1757, ɗan John Ord, wani abu (wakilin) daga Berwick-upon-Tweed. An dauki Edward Ord a matsayin gwanin ilimin lissafi kuma Shugaba Andrew Jackson ya nada shi zuwa Kwalejin Sojojin Amurka. Abokinsa a West Point shi ne Janar William Tecumseh Sherman na gaba. Ya kammala karatunsa a 1839 kuma an ba shi izini na biyu a cikin 3rd US Artillery. Ya yi yaƙi a Yaƙin Seminole na Biyu
a Florida kuma an daukaka shi zuwa na farko Laftanar.