Ford was assigned to Company L, and during his enlistment, he and his fellow troops protected railroad working crews, escorted stages and supply wagons.

[1][2][3] Ford died in 1939 in Springfield, Illinois, at the age of 91, and was honored with a full military funeral and buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery.

At the end of the Civil War, Ford and his family moved back to Virginia, where they owned a farm next to Mount Vernon.

Ford joined the call to enlist because it gave him purpose and a chance to obtain equal rights in a country that had just finished fighting a Civil War over slavery.

[14][15] Ford was 50 years old when he voluntarily enlisted for the Spanish-American War with the rank of Major with the Second Battalion of 23rd Kansas Volunteers.

The couple had eight children: George Jr., James Irwin, Noel Bertram, Elise, Vera, Harriet, Cecil Bruce, and Donald.

In addition, Ford also served as the first African American president of the NAACP Branch in Springfield, Illinois, where he fought for equal rights for all.