Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Baker ya sami ilimi a Gloucester da Ceylon, kuma a cikin 1848 ya shiga Ceylon Rifles a matsayin ensign. Ba da daɗewa ba aka canza shi zuwa 12th Lancers, kuma ya ga aiki tare da wannan rukunin a cikin 8th Cape Frontier War
na 1852 zuwa 1853. A cikin Yakin Crimean, Baker ya kasance a yakin Chernaya River da kuma faduwar Sevastopol, kuma a 1859 ya zama babban a cikin 10th Hussars, ya yi nasara ne kawai bayan shekara guda zuwa umurnin. Wannan matsayi ya riƙe har tsawon shekaru 13, a lokacin da aka kai ga mafi girman ingancin mutanensa, kuma a waje da rundunar ya yi aiki mai kyau ga hannunsa ta wurin rubuce-rubucensa.