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Civil War Soldiers - Baker
| Baker, Edward D., brigadier-general, was born in
London, England, Feb. 24, 1811, and four years later was brought to
America by his father, who selected Philadelphia as his place of
residence. There Edward D. grew to manhood and at the age of nineteen
started for the new West and selected Springfield, Ill., as his home.
Amid struggles with poverty he studied law, and established a practice
in Greene county and soon became noted as one of the leading advocates
of the state. In 1837 he was sent to the legislature by the Whig
party, and then to the state senate, serving from 1840 until 1844. In
the latter year he was elected to Congress, but left his seat in 1846
to raise a company of Illinois volunteers for the Mexican war,
becoming colonel of the 4th Ill. regiment, and he served as one of the
most brilliant officers of the army in all the actions on the route to
the city of Mexico. At Cerro Gordo he succeeded to the command of Gen.
Shields' brigade, which he led until the close of the war. He was
honorably mustered out of the service on May 29, 1847, and, returning
to Illinois was again elected to Congress and served from 1849 until
1851. Declining a re-election, he removed to San Francisco, where he
became distinguished as the head of the bar, and as one of the most
eloquent speakers in the state. In 1860 he removed to Oregon and was
sent to the United States senate by the united votes of the
Republicans and Douglas Democrats. When the opening blow was struck at
Fort Sumter, at a great mass-meeting in New York on April 20, he made
a thrilling appeal for the preservation of the Union. Raising the
"California" regiment in New York and Philadelphia, he entered the
war, and at the fatal battle of Ball's bluff he led the brigade with
undaunted courage, and fell pierced with several wounds, Oct. 21,
1861. He was given the commission of brigadier-general of volunteers
on May 17, 1861, but declined it; was commissioned colonel on June 21,
and was advanced to major-general of volunteers on Sept. 21, 1861, but
had not accepted the appointment at the time he was killed.
Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908
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| Baker, Lafayette C., brigadier-general, chief of the
U. S. secret service, was born in Stafford, Genesee county, N. Y.,
Oct. 13, 1826, being a grandson of Remember Baker, one of Ethan
Allen's captains. Young Baker moved with his parents to Michigan in
1839, but in 1848 went to New York and Philadelphia, and in 1853 to
San Francisco, working in each of the cities as a mechanic. In the
riots in San Francisco, in 1856, he joined the vigilance committee and
took an active part in restoring order in the city. At the outbreak of
the Civil war he offered his services at Washington, and, at the
suggestion of Gen. Hiram Walbridge, Gen. Scott sent him on foot to
Richmond. The success of this mission, in which he collected much
valuable information, followed by equal successes in other hardy
enterprises, won for him the confidence of the government and he was
made head of the bureau of secret service, with almost unlimited
resources at his command. In 1862 the bureau was transferred to the
war department and he was commissioned colonel, and later
brigadier-general of volunteers. Gen. Baker's duties made him enemies
in influential quarters and serious charges were several times
preferred against him, but they were not substantiated. At the time of
Lincoln's assassination, Gen. Baker organized the pursuit of the
murderer and was present at his capture and death. Gen. Baker
published, in 1868, a "History of the United States Secret Service,"
which is of historical value. He died in Philadelphia, July 2, 1868.
Source: The Union Army: A History of Military Affairs in the Loyal
States 1861-1865, Volume 8 Biographical, 1908 |
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