Military: John Wesley Baker, Franklin Parish Submitted: May 2006 By: L. Posey ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm **********************************************   John Wesley Baker, Company E 8th Louisiana Infantry John Wesley Baker was born Oct. 3rd, 1829 in Pennsylvania. His family moved to Indiana while he was still young. He schooled at Cincinnati Medical College and graduated in 1855. Baker located to Winnsboro, La. in 1859. He served Winnsboro as a physician and chose to enlist at Camp Moore on June 19, 1861. Baker and several men from his company were guarding a railroad bridge several miles from Manassas at the first battle there in July 1861. In his own journal, Baker states that he stayed with Lt. Col. Francis T. Nicholls and amputated his arm after he was wounded at 1st. Winchester on May 25, 1862. He was captured there although the record only states that he was detached to Winchester. He was made acting Asst. Surgeon at Lexington, VA. He surrendered and was paroled at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. He returned to Winnsboro and resumed his physicians practice. John W. Baker married Margaret Register in Winnsboro on June 21, 1876 and they had five children. John died of pneumonia on Jan. 27, 1891 in Crowville and is buried in the Baker Cemetery in Crowville, LA.