Baker, Joseph J., 54th Regiment, Virginia Infantry

Joseph J. Baker was born about 1841 in Wythe County, Virginia. He enlisted with Company K, 54th Regiment, Virginia Infantry, in April 1862. In October 1863, he was promoted to Corporal. Shortly after one of the letters in this collection was written in June 1864, Baker was taken prisoner outside Marietta, Georgia. He was released from Camp Morton, Indiana, in June 1865, and returned to Wythe County. Some time between 1865 and 1871, he married and he and his wife, Sarah, had at least four daughters. Baker died in 1931.

From the guide to the Joseph J. Baker Correspondence, 1863-1864, (Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.)