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Edward Dickinson Baker
(1811 – 1861) served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois
and later as a U.S. Senator from Oregon.
He was a long-time friend of President Lincoln. Baker served during both the Mexican-American
War and the Civil War. On October 21, at
the Battle of Ball's Bluff, he was struck by a volley of bullets that killed
him instantly. Lincoln cried when he received the news of Baker’s death. At
Baker’s funeral, Mary Todd Lincoln scandalized Washington by appearing in lilac
rather than the traditional black. Col. Edward D. Baker is buried in San
Francisco. This memorial stone was
placed at Ball’s Bluff to mark the spot of Baker’s death, and to honor the
memory of the only sitting U.S. Senator to have ever died on the field of
battle. Baker once said, “The
officer who dies with his men will never be harshly judged.”
2 comments:
He was right. He died for his belief and is scoff proof.
Two corrections to this piece ...
1. "he was struck by a volley of bullets that killed him instantly."
There are several dozen conflicting accounts of Baker's death, including two conflicting "eyewitness" accounts. Some say he was hit by a single shot, some a volley. Some say he died instantly, others say he attempted to get up when hit and was hit again. Each participating Confederate regiment had at least one soldier who claimed to have killed Baker. Fact is, no one knows for sure.
2. "This memorial stone was placed at Ball’s Bluff to mark the spot of Baker’s death,"
That was the intent but research has shown that he could not have been killed on the spot where the marker is. More likely, that's the spot where his body first was placed when retrieved from the field and was later misidentified as the spot where he died.
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