The Contest for California in 1861

So close was Edward Dickinson Baker to Abraham Lincoln that Lincoln named one of his sons Edward Baker Lincoln. They met in the early days in Illinois and would remain friends until Baker's death in the American Civil War. Known as a great orator, Baker, like Lincoln, kept notes and ideas on scratch paper in his hat.

Most Americans think of the Confederacy as the deep south states and don't realize how precipitously the Pacific states were sliding towards joining the rebellion. Politicians with rebel sympathies were working hard to bring those states into the Confederate States of America.

Though born in England, Edward Baker was a committed American citizen and a hero of the Mexican-American War. He became a Senator from Oregon in 1860 and worked with tireless devotion to keep the West Coast states in the Union.

When war came, Baker kept his senate seat but formed a California regiment and led it in battle. On October 21, 1861, Edward Dickinson Baker became the only sitting senator to be killed in battle in the Civil War.

When Lincoln received the news of Baker's death (while at General McClellan's headquarters), he nearly collapsed and wept openly.

This book tells the tale of the battle to save California to the Union.

For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones.

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