William Brimage Bate

William Brimage Bate, Governor of Tennessee, 1883-1887, was born near Castalian Springs, in Tennessee, October 7, 1826. His educational advantages were limited. In early manhood he was a clerk on a steamboat plying between Nashville and New Orleans. When the Mexican war came, he enlisted in a Louisiana Regiment, and is said to have been the first Tennessean to reach the front. He reenlisted in the Third Tennessee Infantry, and was made a First Lieutenant of Company I. At the close of the war he went to Gallatin and established a paper called The Tenth Legion. In 1849 he was elected to the Legislature. In 1852 he entered the Lebanon Law School, and two years later was elected Attorney-General for his district. In 1860 he served as elector on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket. When the Civil war broke out, Bate enlisted as a private in a company raised at Gallatin; of this company he was elected Captain and later Colonel of the regiment. He came out of the war as a Major-General, having won as much distinction for bravery as any man on either side. He was three times wounded and had six horses killed under him in battle. In 1863, while on the battlefield, he was tendered the nomination of Governor but declined in a letter which has become historic. In 1882 he defeated Governor Hawkins for Governor and Judge Frank Reid two years later. During his administration a settlement of the State debt was reached. On March 4, 1887, Governor Bate became United States Senator, which position he filled with great credit to his State, until his death in 1905.

SOURCE: John Trotwood Moore and Austin Powers Foster, Tennessee: The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Volume 2, p. 28

Buckner's Division Position Marker, February 15, 1862: Fort Donelson National Battlefield

C. S. A.

BRIGADIER GENERAL SIMON B. BUCKNER’S DIVISION

On February 15, 1862, about 1 P. M., this division, in compliance with General Floyd’s orders, withdrew to its original position within the trenches covered by the 2d Kentucky and 41st Tennessee.  Only a Small Portion of the Division had reached its position when Smith’s Division attacked the right flank of the Confederate line fell upon Colonel Hanson’s regiment before it had reached the rifle pits and threw it back in confusion upon the 18th Tennessee.  Hastily forming a line behind the crest of this ridge, Colonel Hanson’s regiment repulsed the ensuing attack against this position.  Reinforced by the 14th Mississippi, the 3d and 18th Tennessee regiments as they arrived, and supported by Porter’s and a section of Grave’s artillery, the 2nd Kentucky was able to maintain its position against repeated assaults.  Towards the close of the action which lasted over two hours, General Buckner’s division was reinforced by the 42d Tennessee.  Colonel Quarles, the 50th Tennessee, Colonel Sugg, and the 49th Tennessee, Colonel Bailey.  Unsuccessful in an attempt to recover the lost trenches, General Buckner’s division had to be content to maintain its position along this ridge.