Introduction
Francis R. Baker and his brother W. Farnandis
enlisted in Company C of the 78th O.V.I. at Zanesville, Ohio on November 19,
1861.
Their brother, James A. Baker,
enlisted in the same unit some weeks later.
In December of 1862 Company C was detached from the
78th Ohio Infantry Regiment to organize a Pioneer Corps and Pontoon Train.
Gen. G.F. Wiles, then a Captain,
wrote that this was the first Pioneer Corps organized in the 17th Army Corps:
"In that capacity the company served with distinction, making roads and
constructing bridges, and destroying bridges and fortifications...
Better working men were not in the army. The
company continued in the Pioneer Corps until after the siege of Vicksburg, and
also on the Meridian Expedition. During the siege of Vicksburg the company was
very efficient, and no like number of men conduced more to the downfall of that
stronghold than did Company 'C.'
The men were from Zanesville and
vicinity, and were a very robust set of men, and very patriotic...
In addition to their pioneering qualities, they were a splendid fighting
company."
Gen. G.F. Wiles (1865)
Quoted in Stevenson's
History of the 78th
O.V.V.I.
(1865)