Lafayette C. Baker
Lafayette C. Baker | |
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United States of America | |
Service branch | Union Army |
Lafayette Curry Baker (October 13, 1826 – July 3, 1868) was a United States investigator and spy, serving the Union Army, during the American Civil War and under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson.
Early life
Baker was born in Stafford, New York, on October 13, 1826.
American Civil War
Baker's exploits are mainly known through his book A History of the Secret Service which he published in 1867 after his fall from grace.
Baker owed his appointment largely to
Lincoln assassination investigation
Baker was recalled to Washington after the assassination of President Lincoln in 1865. Within two days of his arrival in Washington, Baker's agents in Maryland had made four arrests and had the names of two more conspirators, including the actual presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth. Before the month was out, Booth along with David Herold were found holed up in a barn and Booth was himself shot and killed by Sgt. Boston Corbett. Baker received a generous share of the $100,000 reward offered to the person who apprehended the president's killer.[5] President Andrew Johnson nominated Baker for appointment to the grade of brigadier general of volunteers, April 26, 1865, but the United States Senate never confirmed the appointment.[1] Baker was mustered out of the volunteers on January 15, 1866.[1]
Firing and death
The following year, Baker was sacked from his position as government spymaster. President Johnson accused him of spying on him, a charge Baker admitted in his book which he published in response. He also announced that he had had Booth's diary in his possession which was being suppressed by the Department of War and
On July 3, 1868, Baker retired to home complaining of soreness from a gun wound during a hunting trip. He had been out drinking with Wally Pollack, his brother-in-law, and came home feeling sick, passing away later that night, reportedly from meningitis.[1]
A widely criticized 1977 book, The Lincoln Conspiracy by conspiracy theorists [citation needed] David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier, alleges that Baker was poisoned by high-placed conspirators, including Stanton, who supported John Wilkes Booth's plan to kidnap Abraham Lincoln in 1864 and early 1865. The conspirators supposedly planned to have Lincoln impeached in his absence. The authors speculate that the conspirators were concerned that Baker could link them to the planned kidnapping, which might lead to accusations that they were conspirators in Lincoln's assassination. The authors believe the conspirators did not support Booth after March 1865.[8] Academic historians have treated the book with hostility and derision, having many objections based on errors and misuse of sources in the book.[citation needed]
Interment
Baker is buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1]
Notes
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1. p. 588.
- ^ Eicher, 2001, p. 588 states that Baker was "prone to fabrication.'
- ISBN 978-0802123282. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
- ISBN 978-1576079508. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
National Detective Bureau baker ruthless rights.
- ^ North & South: The Official Magazine of the Civil War Society, Volume 11, Number 1, Page 44, "Lafayette Baker and Civil War Security in the North" Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 16, 2010.
- ^ "Why was Lincoln Murdered," by Otto Eisenschml, pgs. 140-145
- ^ "Lincoln Legends" by Edward Steers Jr., pgs. 177-202.
- ISBN 978-0-917214-03-5. pp. 295-296.
References
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
- Linedecker, Clifford L., ed. Civil War, A-Z: The Complete Handbook of America's Bloodiest Conflict. New York: Ballantine Books, 2002. ISBN 0-89141-878-4.
External links
- "Lafayette C. Baker". Find a Grave. Retrieved April 20, 2009.