Inventory of the William B. Baker Papers, 1859-1866

Collection Number 3506

Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Contact Information:

Manuscripts Department

CB#3926, Wilson Library

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890

Phone: 919/962-1345

Fax: 919/962-3594

Email: mss@email.unc.edu

URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/

Descriptive Summary

Repository

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.

Creator

Baker, William B., 1839-1864.

Title

William B. Baker Papers, 1859-1866

Call Number

3506

Language of Materials

Materials in English

Extent

Items: About 200

Linear Feet: 1.0

Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access

No restrictions.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed 2007) available.

Reel 1: Entire collection

Alternate Form of Material

Typed transcripts of most letters are available.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Goodspeed's Bookshop, Boston, Mass., in October 1960.

Processing Information

Processed by: E. Ragan and S. Danovitch, 1960-1963

Encoded by: Nancy Kaiser, March 2005

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the encoding of this finding aid and microfilming of this collection.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the William B. Baker Papers #3506, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Baker, William B., 1839-1864.

Diaries.

Military hospitals--Confederate States of America.

Maine--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Maryland--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Pennsylvania--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Soldiers--United States--Correspondence.

Soldiers--United States--Diaries.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Cavalry operations.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Hospitals.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons.

United States. Army--Medical care.

United States. Army--Military life--History.

United States. Army. Maine Cavalry Regiment, 1st (1861-1865).

United States. Army of the Potomac.

Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Washington (D.C.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Biographical Note

William B. Baker of Goodales Corner, Me., was a federal soldier in Company D, 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment, Army of the Potomac during the Civil War.

Collection Overview

The collection consists of the Civil War letters and diary of William B. Baker of Goodales, Me. Baker served in Company D of the 1st Maine Cavalry Regiment under Captain Spurling. His letters are addressed to his parents and his sisters Mercie and Fannie. Baker's letters describe living conditions at various camps; certain battles; and everyday concerns like clothing needs, food, health, weather, salary, and the difficulty of sending and receiving mail. Baker commented on the morality of men; the relationship between officers and privates; religious services he attended; the peddlers who frequented camp; friends he saw; the treatment of Confederate dead; and the attitude of the officers toward ending the war, which he felt would have been more enthusiastic had their salaries been less. He even described a burial he witnessed. As the war progressed, Baker frequently expressed his weariness with it; however, even in his last letter, written in August 1864 while he was dying of a leg injury he had received in May, he was still convinced that he had been correct in joining and only regretted that he would not see his family again.

Also included are a few letters from his brother, Abisha Baker, and others, and Baker's diary, written while he was on active duty in Virginia, from January to mid-May 1864, and while he was in a Confederate hospital in Richmond, Va., slowly dying of a leg wound, from mid-May to July 1864. The diary notes troop movements, enemy engagements, Baker's experience with his wound, treatment he received, and other matters.

Detailed Description of the Collection