Note: Colonel Baker was assigned to the duty of guarding the area of the Potomac from Point of Rocks to Edward’s Ferry

Camp Observation Little Monocacy
Baker’s Brigade First California regiment

Mr. Thomas Lewis November 1/th 1861

Dear Brother
I wrote a letter to you day before yesterday but did not send it. So now I will write again. I received your letter of 24 October and I was very glad to hear from you that you are all well at home and that you have done hunting chestnuts. I am pretty well only a little cold so I don’t wish that this will find you the same but that it will find you as yours left.

Poor General Baker is gone now. We have no general and we will never find another like him. He was more like a father than a superior officer. Now we have a set of tyrants if I may say so term them but that’s our luck.

There was a right smart fight only I wish the Second Battalion had been there. We would have licked them like furey but weren’t there so that’s an the end of it. But they showed us no chances to fight. They did not leave our men land, only about 300. Then they open fire on them but they found their match. Although they had about 10,000 men, 500 of our boys led by Baker drove them back in confusion till they met their reserve of 5000 fresh men. Then they rallied and drove our men back to the bank of the river. Then they had halt and fight for their lives. Only think of what was left of our regiment about 6 to 800 men fighting a force of 14 or 15,000 men. Pretty great odds. I calculate our man drove them back three times but superior numbers forced us back again. The third time Baker was shot dead pierced with balls. The rebels made a dash for his body. One big fella thought he would have his sword, but Captain Berrel put a pistol to his head and shot him dead. Still the fight went on with the greatest fury on all sides. But fighting against such odds could not last. Always our men fired 40 rounds of balls then tried to make their escape. About 350 turned up of the 800 that went out of our regiment. Then there was 1000 men that we don’t know how many they lost but I heard that one regiment brought back 50 men. So our loss at that battle must have been at the least calculation thousand men.

Well I think I will stop for this time. Wright soon tell me the particulars. So no more at present from your brother George W Lewis