ALPHAEUS BAKER

ALPHAEUS BAKER
(1828 - 1891) Confederate brigadier general. As colonel, he led a mixed regiment of soldiers from Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee in 1862 at New Madrid where he was taken prisoner. Exchanged within several months, Baker was given command of the 54th Alabama Infantry which he would lead during the battles of Vicksburg and Champion's Hill, where he was seriously wounded. He later fought at Atlanta and in the Carolinas. Fine content A.L.S. on his legal letterhead, 2pp. 4to., Louisville, Apr. 6, 1887, in part: '...I am extremely gratified...with an invitation to unite with the members of the Confederate Survivors' Association of Augusta, Ga. in their proposed reunion...on Memorial Day...' He declines citing pressing work, adding: '...The narrower the 'shining circle' of my surviving comrades grows, the nearer and dearer the become to me. My heart will be with you, and from its depths I wish you all the pleasure that the sad but glorious memories of the past can bring...' Fine.