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". See also List of American Civil War generals (Confederate) Notes References Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, . Heitman, Francis, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903. Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1959, . External links Tom Smith Camp, UCV: Rededication of memorial to L. S. Baker Civil War Interactive Last in Their Class: the Goats of West Point 1830 births 1907 deaths People from Gates County, North Carolina United States Military Academy alumni Confederate States Army brigadier generals People of North Carolina in the American Civil War People from New Bern, North Carolina