The Mississippi Civil War Sesquicentennial continues and in the coming months we will be highlighting Museum Division collections related to 1864 and the Civil War. Special thanks to Nan Prince, assistant director of collections, for writing this series.
The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought from May through September 1864. Union forces under the control of General William T. Sherman faced the Confederate Army of Tennessee under General Joseph Johnston, who was replaced mid-campaign by General John Bell Hood. With the capture of Atlanta in early September, Sherman cut off a vital supply line for the Confederacy and was able to begin his “March to the Sea.”
Captain T. Otis Baker of the Tenth Mississippi Infantry was wounded on July 28, 1864, during the Atlanta Campaign and sent to a hospital at Thomastown, Georgia. According to his service records, Baker was on a Register of Prisoners of War when he was paroled on May 1, 1865, in accordance with the terms of surrender negotiated between Generals Johnston and Sherman. Baker was wearing this sword and scabbard when he was wounded. Also pictured is Baker’s officer’s dress shirt. In contrast to the homespun, butternut uniform coat that he wore, Baker’s shirt was rather fancy, as was typical of well-dressed Confederate officers.
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