Born in 1809 in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C., Baker was living in New York City when he joined the Navy.

At the Battle of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864, he was among the crew of a small boat sent from Metacomet to rescue survivors of the USS Tecumseh, which had been sunk by a naval mine (then known as "torpedoes").

Despite intense fire, the boat crew was able to pull ten Tecumseh men from the water.

As a member of the boat's crew which went to the rescue of the U.S. monitor Tecumseh when that vessel was struck by a torpedo in passing the enemy forts in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864, Q.G.

[2]Baker died on August 3, 1891, at age 80 or 81 and was buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery[1][3] in lot 296 of the Naval Plot.