Robert H. Forder was born around 1844 in Indiana to William and Maria Forder. His father was a farmer who owned $7,500 of real estate and $600 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Washington, Indiana, and by 1860, he was working as a laborer on his father’s farm. He enlisted in the Union army on August 18, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company B of the 16th Indiana Infantry later that day. The regiment took part in the Vicksburg campaign. He died in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 10, 1863.