Union Army in
Washington, D.C. Cake entered the
Union Army on April 17, 1861, as a second lieutenant, and was elected colonel of the
25th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, in
Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1861. He reorganized the regiment after three months’ service. He commanded the
96th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment from September 23, 1861, to March 12, 1863, when he resigned and settled in
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. Following his resignation from the military, Cake engaged in the mining and shipping of
anthracite coal.
U.S. House of Representatives Cake was elected as a
Republican to the
Fortieth and
Forty-first Congresses. He served as chairman of the
United States House Committee on Accounts during the Forty-first Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in
1870.
Return to coal industry Following his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Cake resumed his involvement in the mining and shipping of coal. ==Death and interment==