Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te whakautu ki te karanga a te Perehitini a Aperahama Lincoln ki nga patu i te pakarutanga o te Pakanga a-Rohe, i whakauruhia e Ward te 38th New York Infantry a ka tohua hei koronel tuatahi. I arahina e ia tana rerenga i te Pakanga Tuatahi o Bull Run i te Hurae 1861, ka noho hei rangatira mo te brigade a Brig. Gen. Orlando B. Willcox i te wa i whara te whakamutunga i te pakanga. I muri mai ka kite ia i te mahi i te 1862 Peninsula Campaign i roto i te Brig. Gen. David B. Birney's brigade of III Corps. I haere tonu a Ward ki te mahi pai i roto i te Campaign Northern Virginia, i kite i te maha atu o nga mahi i Second Bull Run me
Ko Chantilly. Mo ana mahi, i whakatairangahia ia ki te rangatira rangatira o nga kaitohutohu i te Oketopa 4, 1862, a ka whakawhiwhia ki te whakahau o te pereti a Birney i roto i te III Corps o te Army of the Potomac. (I whai mana a Birney ki a Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny, i mate i te arahi i tana wehenga i Chantilly.) I whakahaua e Ward te pirihimana i Fredericksburg me Chancellorsville.