He commanded men during the Antelope Hills expedition and later led the Confederate forces in what was arguably the last engagement of the American Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch on May 12–13, 1865.

[1]: xix  He also studied law and passed the bar exam before winning election to the Texas legislature in 1844, advocating annexation by the United States.

Later the same year, he was made captain in the Texas Rangers and was stationed between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande, where he had numerous fights with Native Americans during 1850 and 1851.

After his Ranger unit was disbanded, Ford participated in Jose Maria Jesus Carbajal's Merchant's War (1851-1852) as a colonel.

[1]: 208 and 218  Early in 1858, he accepted a commission as Senior Captain in the state troops[1]: 223  and defeated hostile Native Americans in the Battle of Little Robe Creek on the Canadian River.

[1]: 236  Late in 1859, he was sent to the Rio Grande by Governor Hardin Richard Runnels at the head of 53 state troops (Texas Rangers), where he joined operations with Captain George Stoneman of the 2nd Cavalry and Captain Tobin's Texas Rangers against Juan Cortina in the Battle of Rio Grande City.

[1]: 268 In 1861, Ford served as a member of the Secession Convention and initiated a trade agreement between Mexico and the Confederate States of America.

[1]: 325  In early April 1861, Ford commanded troops who defended Zapata County from invaders from Mexico who did not want Texas in the Confederacy in the Second Cortina War.

"[3] Ford acted as a guide for the U.S. military operating against "cow-thieves and other disturbers of peace and quietude" and was a correspondent for the Galveston News.