1st California Regiment

The 1st California was one of four regiments in the "California Brigade" commanded by Colonel Edward D. Baker, a U.S. Senator from Oregon and close friend of President Lincoln. In April 1861, Baker helped organize what was intended to be a single regiment to represent California in the Union Army, but the response was so large that four regiments were created and numbered 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th California, with no 4th. Because most recruiting was done around Philadelphia, the Governor of Pennsylvania objected to those men not being counted in his state's quota of volunteers, and after Colonel Baker's death here, the four regiments were renamed the 71st, 69th, 72nd, and 106th Pennsylvania. In this way, the "California Brigade" became the "Philadelphia Brigade." Numerous accounts of Colonel Baker's death exist, but no historical consensus or definitive version emerged; Confederate veteran Elijah White wrote that Baker was killed, with no one really knowing who did it, despite much romancing at the time.

Leesburg, Virginia · United States