The
United States Congress authorized ordnance sergeants in 1832. There were 44 of them on duty by 1833. Ordnance sergeant was eliminated as a rank by War Department Circular No. 303 on 5 August 1920. The top twenty-five percent of the ordnance sergeants were converted to
master sergeants and the remainder were converted to
technical sergeants. Ordnance Sergeant Mark Wentworth Smith, a
Mexican–American War veteran who was wounded at the
Battle of Chapultepec, was a caretaker at several forts, including
Fort Adams, Rhode Island from 1859 to 1863 and
Fort Griswold, Connecticut from 1863 to 1879. Sergeant Smith died in 1879 at the age of 76, the oldest active duty enlisted soldier in the history of the Army.
Duties and responsibilities Provisions of the United States Army Regulations of 1861 affected ordnance sergeants, as well as other soldiers. The
Secretary of War selected ordnance sergeants from the sergeants of the line of the Army. A nominee had to be recommended by his chain of command. Nominees must have served eight years, of which four had to be as a
non-commissioned officer. The number of ordnance sergeants could not exceed one per military post." An ordnance sergeant ranked below a
quartermaster sergeant of a regiment and above a
first sergeant. • Private Albert Knaak,
Arizona Territory, 1868 • Private
Solon D. Neal, Little
Washita River, Texas, 1870 • Corporal John Kelly, Upper Washita, Texas, 1874 • First Sergeant John Mitchell, Upper Washita, Texas. 1874 • Sergeant
Zachariah Woodall, Washita River, Texas, 1874 • First Sergeant Michael McGann, Rosebud River, Montana, 1876 • First Sergeant
Henry Wilkens, Little Muddy Creek, Montana and Camas Meadows, Idaho, 1877 • Sergeant Milden H. Wilson, Big Hole, Montana, 1877 • First Sergeant
Moses Williams, Cuchillo Negro Mountains, New Mexico, 1881 • First Sergeant
Frederick E. Toy, Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota, 1890 ==Ordnance sergeants in the Confederate Army==