US Con COL Baker, Edward Dickinson - U.S. Senator, OR

Edward Dickinson Baker

:us34stars:
Baker 1.jpg


Born: February 24, 1811

Birthplace: London, England

Father: Edward Baker 1786 – 1835

Mother: Lucy Dickinson 1783 – 1862
(Buried: Old Barry Cemetery, Barry, Illinois)​

Wife: Mary Ann Faust 1811 – 1871
(Buried: San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California)​

Children:

Lucy S. Baker Hopkins 1833 – 1914​
(Buried: Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington)​
Caroline Baker Stevens 1834 – 1902​
(Buried: Lake View Cemetery, Seattle, Washington)​
Lt. Edward Dickinson Baker Jr. 1838 – 1883​
(Buried: San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California)​

Occupation before War:

1815: Immigrated to the United States from England​
Attorney in Springfield, Illinois​
1837: Illinois State Representative​
1840 – 1844: Illinois State Senator​
Baker.jpg
1845 – 1846: United States Congressman from Illinois​
1846 – 1847: Colonel of 4th Illinois Infantry Regiment​
Served in the Battles of Veracruz and Cerro Gordo, Mexico​
1849 – 1851: United States Congressman from Illinois​
1851 – 1860: Attorney in San Francisco, California​
1860 – 1861: United States Senator from Oregon​

Civil War Career:

1860 – 1861: United States Senator from Oregon​
1861: Rode in the Presidential Carriage at Inauguration​
1861: Offered the rank of Brigadier General but declined
Baker 2.jpg
1861: Colonel of 71st Pennsylvania Volunteers Infantry Regiment​
1861: Major General of Union Army Volunteers Infantry​
1861: Killed by four shots to the brain Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Virginia​

Died: October 21, 1861

Place of Death:
Ball’s Bluff, Virginia

Cause of Death: Wounds to the brain

Age at time of Death: 50 years old

Burial Place: San Francisco National Cemetery, San Francisco, California
 
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His careless and unwise placement of his volunteers atop Ball's Bluff made perfect targets out of them. His role in this more than likely would have gotten him censured had he lived. But his friendship with with Lincoln may have also prevented any action against him. As it was General Stone got the blame for the fiasco.
 
His careless and unwise placement of his volunteers atop Ball's Bluff made perfect targets out of them. His role in this more than likely would have gotten him censured had he lived. But his friendship with with Lincoln may have also prevented any action against him. As it was General Stone got the blame for the fiasco.
I wonder if the Union could have avoided the Joint Committee had Baker survived. Personally, I doubt it, but it is interesting. Maybe Baker could have been appointed Secretary of War instead of Stanton or put on the Supreme Court instead of Stephen J. Field?
 
Lincoln's second son Edward Baker Lincoln was named after this gentleman. I was going to ask how long they knew each other and how they became friends but then I remembered the "Illinois Congressman" connection.
 
The Life of Colonel Edward D. Baker: Lincoln's Constant Ally by Harry C. Blair and Rebecca Tashis

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Edward Dickinson Baker (February 24, 1811 – October 21, 1861) was an American politician, lawyer, and military leader. In his political career, Baker served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois and later as a U.S. Senator from Oregon. He was also known as an orator and poet. A long-time close friend of the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, Baker served as U.S. Army colonel during both the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Baker was killed in the Battle of Ball's Bluff while leading a Union Army regiment, becoming the only sitting U.S. senator ever to be killed in a military engagement.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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