Alpheus BakerBrigadier General, Provisional Army of the Confederate States
"I saw him bleeding on the field, was near him when his horse fell under him. He was always ready to defend the truth, no matter what odds might array against him. Always ready to hear reasons though it be against his own judgement. I have known him to yield cheerfully to the suggestions of his inferiors - such was his manliness and great reverence of right, that he searched for it. He loved God, mercy and truth, for the sake of these."Gabriel L. Brindley, 54th Alabama Infantry
 (Museum of the Confederacy)
 (Compiled Service Record) |
Born: May 28th, 1828, at Clover Hill near Abbeville, Abbeville District, South Carolina, the son of Alpheus (1780-1857) and Eliza H. Courtney Baker (b. 1800)
Married: (1) Louisa Lydia Garvin (1834-1866) on January 7th, 1851; (2) Pheribee May Ricks (1847-1932) on December 4th, 1866.
Pre-War: Employed as a teacher in Abbeville, South Carolina, at Lumpkin, Georgia, and Eufaula, Alabama, from 1844 to 1848; as a teacher at the Glenville Military Academy at Glenville, Alabama, from 1848 to 1849; studied law at Linden, Alabama, from 1848 to 1849, and was admitted to the Alabama State Barn in 1849; opened a law office at Eufaula, Alabama, from 1851 to 1861; traveled to Kansas in the company of Major Jefferson Buford and L.F. Johnston from March to May 1856, for the purpose of raising support in Alabama for making Kansas a slave state, and accompanied 100 men from Eufaula heading to Kansas making speeches along the route, at Montgomery he gave a speech in which he ". . . spoke of the unfavorable and unjust legislation against the interests of the South, especially since the Missouri compromise, the constant attacks of the abolitionists upon the South, their desire to deprive the people of South of their property. Kansas, he said, was now the battle ground where the final decision was to be made. The South commit no wrong and relinquish no right. Much had the South borne for the sake of the Union, but it was now time to that she could no longer be persecuted. Her chivalrous must come to the rescue, to uphold and maintain their constitutional rights and protect their institutions. The South must against rampant fanaticism." |
Returned home with Major L.F. Johnston in May 1856 to raise funds and volunteers, however, by December the expedition had failed; elected as Captain of the 'Eufaula Rifles' on March 17th, 1860; elected, and served, as a delegate from Barbour County to the Alabama Constitutional Convention (Secession Convention), in 1861, but resigned to organize a company.
Service: Enlisted as Captain of Company B (Eufaula Rifles) of the 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment on February 9th, 1861, at Eufaula, Alabama, for twelve months service; served in the actions and engagements in and around Pensacola, Florida, from March 1861 to January 1862, with the Army of Pensacola, Department of Alabama & West Florida, during which time he was detailed as the Judge Advocate of a Court of Inquiry on April 20th, 1861, was absent with leave for 15 days from June 16th, 1861, was detailed as a recorder of a Court of Inquiry on June 2nd, 1861, was detailed to a Court of Inquiry from August 19th, 1861, was on a leave of absence for 10-days from August 22nd, 1861, detailed as Judge Advocate to Major General Braxton Bragg, PACS, from September 16th, 1861, was absent, sick, in Pensacola, Florida, from September to October 1861, and was absent on a 30-day leave of absence from November 1st, 1861; absent on 20-days leave of absence from December 12th, 1861; tendered his resignation on January 20th, 1862, at Barrancas, Florida; his resignation was accepted and he was honorably discharged from the service on January 12th, 1862. Appointed as Colonel of the 1st Alabama, Tennessee & Mississippi Infantry Regiment on January 14th, 1862; with the regiment at Fort Pillow near Memphis, Tennessee, from January to March 1862; engaged in the Siege of New Madrid & Island No. 10 from April to April 1862, being ordered, with the regiment, to New Madrid on February 26th, 1862, and towards the end of April, and assigned to McCown's Command, Western Department; engaged in the construction of works at the mouth of Bayou St. John near New Madrid on March 1st, 1862, at the time of the evacuation it was described by Brigadier General Alexander P. Stewart as being: "a strong parapet ditch, and beyond the latter a sort of abatis of brush and felled trees. It was an irregular line, extending from the bayou above the town to the river, some 300 or 400 yards below the bayou. Bankhead's guns were placed on platforms behind the parapet; also four smooth-bore 32-pounders." Assigned to command of the steamer DeSoto, during the evacuation the troops from Fort Bankhead near New Madrid to Island No. 10 on March 13th, 1862; surrendered with the garrison at Island No. 10 near New Madrid, Missouri on April 7th, 1862; held as a prisoner of war from April 7th to November 10th, 1862, during which time he was taken as a prisoner of war to the prisoner of war camp at Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, arriving there on April 13th, 1862, was paroled at Camp Chase, Ohio, on April 22nd, 1862, stating that he would: "...proceed without delay to Columbus, Ohio, and there remain, reporting myself in person to the Governor of Ohio at his office at 10 1 / 2 o'clock every morning when at all able in health to do so until further ordered by him. And further that during my parole I will do no act of hostility. Either by speaking or writing, or furnishing any aid or information whatever against the Government of the United States." Transferred to Johnson's Island near Sandusky, Ohio, in 1862, then transferred for exchange to the steamer John H. Done on September 1st, 1862, and travelled to Vicksburg, Mississippi, arriving at Vicksburg, Mississippi, on September 20th, 1862, and he was officially declared exchanged on November 10th, 1862; appointed as Colonel of the 4th Confederate Infantry Regiment on October 9th, 1862, a reorganization of the 1st Alabama, Tennessee & Mississippi Infantry Regiment; the regiment is again redesignated as the 54th Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment on January28th, 1863, to date from October 9th, 1862, with his commission as Colonel ranking from that date; Confederate Representatives James L. Pugh, William P. Chilton, David Clopton, Francis S. Lyon & Jabez L.M. Curry of Alabama write to President Jefferson Davis on April 28th, 1863, recommending the promotion of Colonel Baker, stating that: "We take great pleasure in recommending Col. Alpehus Baker, 54th Ala. Reg., now stationed in Fort Pemberton, for promotion to Brigadier General. Col. Baker has filled many positions of high civil trust in which he distinguished himself for ability. Daring and eloquent, and after secession he was one of the first to enter the military service, having furnished to the First Ala. Reg a company which he commanded for twelve months in Genl. Braggs Army at Pensacola. After his first term expired he raised a regiment, which rendered the most laborious and hazardous service on Island ten where his command with other was captured by the enemy and kept until they were exchanged after six months imprisonment on Johnsons Island. Since then Col. B. was exchanged he has been in active service in Genl. Pemberton's Army on the Mississippi. We feel a deep personal interest in Col. Baker's promotion and we earnestly desire that this application shall received your favorable consideration." Served in the Vicksburg Campaign from April to May 16th, 1863, being engaged, and severely wounded in action (in the foot, a bullet breaking the bone on the instep), on May 16th, 1863, at Champion Hill (Baker's Creek), Mississippi; absent on a thirty-days leave of absence from May 17th, 1863, due to a gunshot wound of the foot; General Braxton Bragg wrote to President Jefferson Davis on June 17th, 1863, recommending the promotion of Colonel Baker, stating that: "Among the ardent friends of our cause who promptly abandoned friends, home and political preferment even before the organization of our government, and took up arms in vindication of the principles he had long supported, was Colonel Alpheus Baker. In March 1861 I found him at Pensacola comdg a company of Alabama State Troops. Transferred to Confederate service, he continued under my command in that army, in the zealous and efficient discharge of his duties, while the following winter, where he was called to the command of a regiment in a distant field. One of the unfortunate prisoners at the fall of Island No. 10, he returned as soon as exchanged to the irksome and laborious duties on the Mississippi, where he is still battling for the right. Gallant, intelligent and devoted to the cause and the duties by which he supports it, he has by experience become a fine soldier; and though opportunities have failed him for that distinction all desire, and many, not his equals, have enjoyed, I know no Colonel in the service I would receive at the head of a Brigade with more personal satisfaction or official confidence." Major General John H. Forney wrote to Adjutant & Inspector General Samuel Cooper on August 14th, 1863, recommending the promotion of Colonel Baker, stating that: "Colonel Alpheus Baker of Alabama an applicant for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General has written to me, asking my recommendation to the President in case I can conscientiously give it. I admire Colonel Baker for the many good qualities of his heart and have a high respect for his talents. He is one of the leading men of Alabama; was among the first to take up arms in vindication of her States Rights. He is and was from the commencement of the war properly impressed with the importance of discipline and subordination, and has the ability and firmness to enforce these principles in his company and Regiment. His temperate habits and ardent zeal in the cause of the South with his mature ability and experience as commander of soldiers leave me no doubt in my mind of the judiciousness of the appointment to the position he seeks." Brigadier General Abram Buford writes to Secretary of War James A. Seddon on August 18th, 1863, recommending the promotion of Colonel Baker, stating that: "I have the honor to recommend for promotion to the rank of Brig. Genl. In the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, Col. Alpheus Baker, 54th Regt. Ala. Vols. In calling the attention of the War Dept. to the claims of this officer for promotion. I take great pleasure in testifying to the...energy, zeal & skill displayed by him whilst in command of his Regt. during the campaign just ended in the valley of the Mississippi. And particularly at the battle of Baker's Creek. When Col. Baker was severely wounded. At a critical moment when his Regt. Was under a heavy fire I and others witness of his great courage & daring. I therefore call that as his immediate commander, I am doing but a simple act of justice to a meritorious and accomplished officer in urging his claims for advancement to a position which I consider him eminently qualified to fill in every particular." The letter was Endorsed by Major General William W. Loring on August 18th, 1863, who wrote that: "I cordially endorse the high testimonial of Genl. Buford to the meritorious conduct of Colonel Baker, comdg the 54th Ala. Regt. The Col. has served in my division with a short interruption, nearly the whole time of my service in the Dept. of Mississippi, besides his gallantry and good conduct at Baker's Creek and in the campaign around Vicksburg, he was with us at Fort Pemberton on the Upper Yazoo River. He is a fine disciplinarian and has under his command one of the best regiments in the service. Possessing rare, qualities for a commander, his superiors in every instance recommend him for promotion." Appointed as a Brigadier General in the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, from the State of Alabama, on March 7th, 1864, with rank from March 5th, 1864, he accepted the appointment on March 24th, 1864, and the appointment was confirmed by the Confederate Congress on May 11th, 1864; commanding Baker's (formerly Moore's) Brigade, Stewart's Division, Polk's-Stewart's Corps, Army of Tennessee, from March 19th to July 28th, 1864, being composed of the 37th, 40th, 42nd & 54th Alabama Infantry Regiments; served in the Atlanta Campaign from May to July 28th, 1864, being engaged at Rock Face Ridge on May 9th & 10th, 1864, at Resaca, Georgia, on May 13th to 15th, 1864, where his horse was killed from under him, at New Hope Church on May 25th, 1864, and was engaged, and wounded in action, at Ezra Church on July 28th, 1864; while recovering from his wounds he was placed in command of Baker's Brigade, Liddell's Division, District of the Gulf at Mobile, Department of Alabama, Mississippi & East Louisiana, from August 1864 to January 1865; commanding Baker's Brigade, Clayton's Division, Lee's Corps, Army of Tennessee, from January to May 1865; served in the Carolina's Campaign from January to May 1865, being engaged at Bentonville, North Carolina, on March 19th to 21st, 1865; no record of his surrender or parole has been found, though he later in life claimed to have surrendered with the Army of Tennessee.
| Post War: Applied for an Executive Pardon on August 5th, 1865, writing to President Andrew Johnston that: "I had been taught from my youth upwards to believe, and I did believe, that the Union was a revocable compact & secession a Constitutional right. I was the advocate of its exercise then, because I vainly hoped it would put a peaceful termination to the Conflict than waging in the union, which I was satisfied would overthrow slavery & bring thereby ruin upon the country in which my lot was cast. I did not think that the separation would produce war; but on the contrary my hope was to avert by this very means, that dire struggle, without which, I was satisfied the South would never consent to yield up slavery for I thought that struggle far less likely to take place if the contestants could be these as it were, parted, than if they should continue to grapple together in an unceasing conflict in the Union. I believe, in effect, that the two sections which lived together only in strife, would live apart in amity and prosperity. These hopes were doomed to a bloody disappointment, but War having come on, I went into the Army, and as a soldier, during four years, did all in my power to secure the triumph of the cause for which I fought. God disposed it otherwise. The South was overcome & that destruction of slavery which I hoped to avert by secession was accelerated - |
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accomplished by the war which it produced. It is gone forever, and with it the motive which prompted me to desire separation. I submit with resignation to the inevitable result; I regard the issue as having been fully tried, & finally determined, and I would oppose all effort to disturb the verdict which has been rendered in the tremendous world watched trial. I desire to conform, in good faith, to the altered condition of affairs, & to be a peaceful & loyal citizen of the United States for the future. After the payment of my debts I will have no property remaining, that which I did own having consisted almost entirely of negros, about forty in number. The loss of these reduces me to poverty. I have a wife and two Children dependent upon me for support. I entered the Army as a private Soldier Feb. 9th, 1861, and served continuously throughout the war, having been paroled, after the surrender of Gen. J.E. Johnston. I was promoted to the rank of brigadier General, March 8th, 1865, and am for this reason alone excepted from the benefits of the Amnesty." The application was endorsed on August 12th, 1865, by Governor Lewis E. Parsons of Alabama, who wrote that: "I have carefully examined the application of Alpehus Baker… The opinions, impulses and early education of Mr. Barker have led him into error and in themselves are assurances of an honest return to loyalty when convinced of his error. Believing that his future loyalty and good citizenship are beyond question. I respectfully recommend his case to your favorable consideration." Officially pardoned on July 11th, 1866, by the United States Attorney General; Resumed his law practice in Eufaula, Alabama, from 1866 to 1878; ran for the United States Congress in 1872, however, was defeated by Charles C. Sheats; appointed, and served, as the judge of the City of Court of Eufaula to 1878; moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in November 1878, and was admitted to the State Bar; opened, and operated, a law practice in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1878 to 1891; was the speaker at the Sixty-Third Birthday Celebration of Lieutenant General U.S. Grant at Louisville, Kentucky, on April 27th, 1885.
Died: October 2nd, 1891, at Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Buried: Cave Hill Cemetery at Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky
Resources
"Alabama, her history, resources, war record, and public men: from 1540 to 1872." Willis Brewer; Barret & Brown Printers, Montgomery, Alabama; 1872.
Pages 386 to 388, Volume VII (Alabama), "Confederate Military History." Confederate Publishing Company, Atlanta, Georgia; 1899.
Page 14, "Generals in Gray. Lives of the Confederate Commanders." Ezra J. Warner, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana; 1997.
Pages 118 & 119, "General Officers of the Confederate Army." Marcus J. Wright, The Neale Publishing Company, New York, New York, 1911.
Page 261 to 264, "Makers and Romance of Alabama History." Benjamin F. Riley; 1914.
Baker Pardon Application, Case Files of Applications from Former Confederates for Presidential Pardons (Amnesty Papers), 1865-1867; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1003, 73 Rolls); Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Diary of Alpheus Baker. Alabama State Archives.
'Gen. Alpheus Baker Dead.' (Obituary) "St. Paul Daily Globe." St. Paul, Minnesota; October 4th, 1891.
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