What Effect Did La Fayette Baker Have On The Civil War

Spies had a huge impact on the Civil War. Spies would transfer information from either Confederacy to Union or from Union to Confederacy. Life as a spy was extremely dangerous. If you were a male caught spying you were sentenced to death in front of a firing squad. For women the sentence was less severe, most would just get imprisoned, but if caught with very serious information or spying for a second time after being imprisoned, they would be killed. Spies had to be extremely quick thinkers in order to make a decision in a split second about what had to be done. They used the new technology of hot air balloons for spying as well. Spying was a new thing during the Civil War. Spies were basically the first branch of the CIA.

LaFayette Baker
When he was older he moved to California during the Gold Rush. When Baker was unsuccessful he joined the 1856 Vigilance Committee. It is known that during his time on the committee he took part in many lynchings. After he left the committee he took a position on the San Francisco Police Force. Baker stayed in California until 1861 when he joined The Union Army. He made a good impression on the General, and after a little while he became a scout. He was asked to go on an espionage Mission, which was successful. On this Mission he almost got executed by the union because they thought he was a confederate spy, twice. One of Baker's achievements was the capture of Belle Boyd but even after a brutal interrogation he still didn’t get a confession from her. After the War Baker became a detective, and was the lead detective on Lincoln's assassination. After two days of the investigation Baker had arrested Mary Surratt, Lewis Paine, George Atzerodt, and Edman Spangler. They had also given him the names of John Wilkes Booth and David Herold. He died on July 3, 1868 from