William W. Orme
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2018) |
William W. Orme | |
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94th Illinois Infantry Camp Douglas Prison | |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Other work | lawyer |
Brigadier General William Ward Orme (1832-1866) was born in Washington, D.C. in 1832. He moved to Bloomington, Illinois, in McLean County, prior to 1860 where he practiced law in the law firm of Swett & Orme. His partner was Leonard Swett. While practicing law in Illinois he caught the attention of Abraham Lincoln who called Orme the most promising lawyer in Illinois.[1]
He was a delegate to the Illinois State Constitutional Convention in 1860. He was a friend of Supreme Court Justice David Davis. When Abraham Lincoln appointed Davis to the Supreme Court, Davis wrote Orme about the news.
Orme formed and commanded the
It was during his time in Mississippi that Orme contracted tuberculosis. His brigade was transferred to the Department of the Gulf but he was soon forced relinquish his command due to failing health. He was appointed commander of the Camp Douglas Prison but even that became to difficult for his health. He retired from the military in 1864 to become Supervising Agent for the United States Treasury. Orme finally succumbed to his illness and died in 1866 at his home in Illinois.
A collection of Orme's papers is held by the University of Illinois Library's Illinois History and Lincoln Collections.
A bronze marker in Orme's honor was erected in 1917 at Vicksburg National Military Park
See also
References
- ^ Levy p.167
- Political Graveyard
- Famous Ormes
- Lincoln's Supreme Court by David Mayer Silver. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1956
- Report of Col. William W. Orme, Ninety-fourth Illinois Infantry, commanding Second Brigade
- Levy, George To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas 1863-1865, 1999