JOSEPH S

JOSEPH S. BAKER

A Story From the Civil War

Submitted By Debora Reese

As Rilla Baker Brannan told and remembered by Her Grandchildren

We never knew Joseph Baker, and so very little is known about him except what Granny Brannan told us.

Joseph Baker was serving in the Confederate Army, the 46th Mississippi Infantry, Company D. He and a buddy was alone traveling on foot one winter. Night came with no houses or barns to take cover in so they lay down beside the road on the ground even though it was very cold. During the night it began to snow, covering them with several inches of snow.

The next morning a noise awake Joseph’s buddy and he sat up to see what it was. It was a troop of Yankee soldiers and as he sat up one of them shot him.

Joseph was very scared and stayed as still as possible. The Yankees kept marching and didn’t check any further. He was spared.

When Joseph got home from the war, in was in rags with no shoes. His wife, Sarah, arranged a bath for him outside and immediately took his clothes and burned them.

He and the clothes were covered with lice.

From being in the cold without shoes, Joseph’s feet were frost bitten. He could not stand any warmth on them so for the remained of his life he slept with his feel uncovered even in freezing cold weather.

* According to military documents Joseph S. Baker was separated from his regiment by Federal troops for about 35 days on the Tennessee River.