Joseph D. Baker
Joseph D. Baker was born around 1839 in Findley, Pennsylvania, to John Baker and Susan Walker. His father was a farmer who owned $790 of real estate by 1850. Baker grew up and attended school in Findley, and his father died in 1857. By 1860, he was working as a music teacher in Findley.
 
 He enlisted in the Union army on September 23, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 57th Pennsylvania Infantry on October 30. According to his service records, he was 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. He wrote a poem in October 1861 declared that he was “marching with the brave…Our country to maintain.” He also denounced the “curse of slavery.” The regiment took part in the Battle of Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Gettysburg.
 
After the Battle of Williamsburg in May 1862, he declared that “I now know by experience something of the ‘Horrors of war.’ I have seen the battle-field and met the enemy twice, and believe me, it is as tough a place as words can express. I do not wish to see such a sight as Williamsburg field again.” He remained staunchly loyal to the Union. In July 1862, he gave a Confederate woman “the contents of my haversack and told her to teacher her children…to be loyal to the government of the U.S.” He denounced “the Copperhead gang,” writing that their “every howl is only strengthening the hand of the devilish foe in our front.”
 
Confederate forces captured him at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, and he spent the ensuing months imprisoned at Belle Isle and Andersonville. He died in Andersonville on May 12, 1864.
4439
DATABASE CONTENT
(4439)Baker, Joseph D.18391864-05-12
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 29

  • (12366) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 28 October 1861
  • (12367) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 23 November 1861
  • (12368) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 7 December 1861
  • (12369) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 18 December 1861
  • (12370) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 1 January 1862
  • (12371) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 21 March 1862
  • (12372) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 22 April 1862
  • (12373) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 8 May 1862
  • (12374) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 11 May 1862
  • (12375) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 29 May 1862
  • (12376) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Unknown, 21 June 18XX
  • (12377) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker and Elizabeth Baker, 3 July 1862
  • (12378) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 15 July 1862
  • (12379) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 25 July 1862
  • (12380) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker and James R. W. Baker, 2 August 1862
  • (12381) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to James R. W. Baker, undated
  • (12382) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 8 August 1862
  • (12383) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, undated
  • (12384) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 30 September 1862
  • (12385) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 9 March 1863
  • (12386) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to James R. W. Baker, 13 March 1863
  • (12387) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 11 April 1863
  • (12388) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 11 May 1863
  • (12389) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 12 May 1863
  • (12456) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker and James R. W. Baker, 25 May 1863
  • (12457) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to James R. W. Baker, 10 June 1863
  • (12458) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 20 November 1863
  • (12459) [associated with] ~ William W. Dudley to Susanna Baker, 29 December 1883
  • (15386) [writer] ~ Joseph D. Baker to Susanna Baker, 19 May 1862

People - Records: 6

  • (4440) Baker, Susanna is the [parent of] (4439) Baker, Joseph D.
  • (4442) Baker, Elizabeth is the [sibling of] (4439) Baker, Joseph D.
  • (4443) Baker, James Renwick Wilson is the [sibling of] (4439) Baker, Joseph D.
  • (4453) Becker, Thomas Albert Andrew is the [sibling of] (4439) Baker, Joseph D.
  • (5557) Becker, Samuel Edward William is the [sibling of] (4439) Baker, Joseph D.
  • (5558) Baker, John is the [parent of] (4439) Baker, Joseph D.

Places - Records: 2

  • (2815) [birth] ~ Findley, Mercer County, Pennsylvania
  • (756) [death] ~ Andersonville Prison, Marion County, Georgia

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (324) [enlisted] [F] ~ 57th Pennsylvania Infantry
SOURCES

1850 and 1860 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Joseph D. Baker to Susan Baker, 28 October 1861, DL1848.001, Nau Collection; Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker, 11 May 1862, DL1848.009, Nau Collection; Joseph D. Baker to Susan Baker, 15 July 1862, DL1848.014, Nau Collection; Joseph D. Baker to Elizabeth Baker and James R. W. Baker, 25 May 1863, DL1848.026, Nau Collection