Laurence S . Baker Laurence Simmons Baker ( May 15 , 1830 – April 10 , 1907 ) 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 . Early life and career . Baker was born on the Cole ' s Hill Plantation in Gates County , North Carolina , the last of five children of Dr . John Burges and Mary Wynns ( Gregory ) Baker . His great - grandfather 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 ( last in his class ) . 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 captain . On 13 Mar 1855 , Laurence Baker married Elizabeth E . Henderson ( 1836 – 1918 ) . Civil War . In May 1861 , he resigned his commission when North Carolina seceded from the Union . Although personally opposed to the concept of secession , Baker was loyal to his state . He became the lieutenant colonel of the 1st North Carolina Cavalry , and was then promoted to colonel on March 1 , 1862 , leading the cavalry regiment in the 1862 Peninsula Campaign . He saw action at the Seven Days Battle , Second Battle of Bull Run ( Second Manassas ) , and Battle of Antietam ( Sharpsburg ) later in 1862 . During the Gettysburg Campaign , Baker was wounded at the Battle of Brandy Station . However , he capably led his men in a number of small cavalry actions , culminated in the fighting at East Cavalry Field at the Battle of Gettysburg . Baker assumed command of Brig . Gen . Wade Hampton ' s brigade when that officer was severely wounded by a saber slash . He was promoted to brigadier general on July 23 , 1863 , in recognition for his valiant service covering the retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia . Eight days later , he was severely wounded in the right arm while resisting a Federal crossing of the Rappahannock River , and was incapacitated for nearly a year . After recovering enough for administrative duty , Baker was named commander of the Second Military District in his home state of North Carolina , overseeing the defense of vital railroads and supply lines . He briefly led a brigade into Georgia to help defend Savannah , but withdrew before the city surrendered . He also commanded the North Carolina Junior Reserves from 1864 until 1865 , a predominantly recruiting and desk position . Despite his still painfully shattered arm , Baker returned to the field during the Carolinas Campaign , including the Battle of Bentonville . He and most of his men did not surrender at the end of the war , preferring to try to cut his way through Union lines to join Joseph E . Johnston ' s army . Instead , he disbanded his brigade and the remaining men dispersed . Baker received his formal parole in Raleigh , North Carolina , in May 1865 . Postbellum activities . After the war , Baker lived at New Bern , North Carolina , for a while before moving to Norfolk , Virginia , as a farmer . After returning to North Carolina , he was engaged in insurance until 1877 . The next year , he joined the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad in Suffolk , VA as a station agent , serving for 29 years . His duties included managing the Western Union telegraph and the Southern Express Co . , a shipping company . He was a member of St . Paul ' s Episcopal Church in Suffolk , Virginia , and was active in the local camp of the United Confederate Veterans . He died in Suffolk in 1907 and was buried in the city ' s Cedar Hill Cemetery . Due to a clerical error in the War Department , in some official military documents , his first name is frequently misspelled as " Lawrence " .