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the last he was in command of the Mississippi division of cavalry, with headquarters at
Macon.
Major-General William Brimage Bate was born near
Castalian Springs, Tenn., in the year 1830.
Early in his youth he manifested a bold and adventurous spirit that characterized his career as a Confederate soldier.
Leaving
school to become a clerk on a steamboat plying between
Nashville and New Orleans, he subsequently enlisted for the
Mexican war and served as a private in a Louisiana and a Tennessee regiment.
On his return to
Tennessee he was elected to the legislature by his admiring friends in his native county, and after this he began the study of law in the famous school at
Lebanon.
He was graduated professionally in 1852, and then made his home at
Gallatin, the scene of his earlier efforts in the profession which has been honored by his intellectual ability and manly worth.
In 1854 he was elected attorney-general of the Nashville district for a term of six years. That calm, masterful and judicious leadership for which his life has been distinguished was already manifested in the political field, and having declined congressional honors, his name was put upon the Breckinridge electoral ticket.
In May, 1861,
Tennessee began the official negotiations which promptly resulted in her league with the other Southern States for defense against the war being waged upon them, and
Bate entered the military forces as a private.
He was speedily promoted captain and then colonel of the Second Tennessee regiment, and during the early months of the conflict served at
Columbus, Ky., and elsewhere, in the command of
General Polk.
His first great battle was at
Shiloh, where he shared the work of
Cleburne's brigade of
Hardee's corps.
Bravely leading his regiment in the second charge, through a murderous cross-fire, he fell severely wounded, a minie ball breaking his leg and disabling him for field service for several months.
This participation in battle, though brief, was marked with
