Laurence S. Baker

Laurence Simmons Baker was an officer in the United States Army on the frontier, then later a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. His first name was spelled Lawrence in the records of the Confederate War Department and the mistaken spelling has persisted.

Baker was born on the Coles Hill Plantation in Gates County, North Carolina, the last of five children of Dr. John Burges and Mary Wynns Baker. His greatgrandfather and namesake Lawrence Baker had been a general during the American Revolution. After receiving his initial schooling at the Norfolk Academy, he graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1851, placing 42nd . After graduation, he was breveted a second lieutenant earning his full rank on Mar. 31, 1853. He served for nine years in the U.S. Mounted Rifles, assigned to duty on the western frontier and rising to the rank of first lieutenant.

Source: Wikipedia