William B. Bate
William Brimage Bate (October 7, 1826 – March 9, 1905) was a planter and slaveholder, Confederate officer, and politician in Tennessee.[1] After the Reconstruction era, he served as the 23rd governor of Tennessee from 1883 to 1887. He was elected to the United States Senate from Tennessee, serving from 1887 until his death.
During the
Early life and career
Bate was born in Bledsoe's Lick (now
While his steamboat was docked in New Orleans, word came of the outbreak of the Mexican–American War in 1848, and Bate enlisted in a Louisiana regiment. When this enlistment ended a few months later, he reenlisted with the rank of lieutenant in Company I of the 3rd Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. He accompanied General Joseph Lane on several raids in pursuit of Santa Anna toward the end of the war.[3]
After the war, Bate returned to his family farm in Sumner County, and established a pro-Democratic Party newspaper, the Tenth Legion, in nearby Gallatin. He was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1849. In 1852, he obtained his law degree from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and was admitted to the bar. After the state constitution was amended to allow for direct election of judicial officers in 1854, Bate was elected attorney general for the Nashville district.[3]
Bate campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial candidate
American Civil War
Following the
Bate's unit remained on the
After spending several months recovering in
At the Battle of Chickamauga, Bate engaged in a skirmish with enemy forces that opened the fighting on the evening of September 18, 1863. In the intense fighting that took place on the following day, three of his horses were shot out from under him.[3] During the reorganization of the Army of Tennessee after this battle, Bate was given command of John C. Breckinridge's division (Breckinridge had been promoted to Corps commander). Bate commanded this division at the Battle of Missionary Ridge in November 1863.[3]
As a result of his service in the
Bate rejoined his division in time to take part in General
Bate's division remained with Cheatham's Corps during the 1865
After the Civil War
After the war, Bate practiced law in Nashville in partnership with Colonel Frank Williams.[7] He remained active in politics, serving on the State Democratic Committee and the National Democratic Executive Committee in the late 1860s.[2] He was nominated for the U.S. Senate in 1875, 1877, and 1881,[7] and was an elector for presidential candidate Samuel J. Tilden in 1876.[4]
Throughout the 1870s and early 1880s, Tennessee's state government struggled with debt, which had accumulated over previous decades as the state issued bonds to fund internal improvements and railroad construction. The Panic of 1873 decimated the state's property tax revenue, and the state defaulted on its bond debt in 1875. By the early 1880s, the state Democratic Party had split into two factions over how to resolve the crisis: those who sought full repayment of the debt at all costs to preserve the state's credit (known as the "high tax" or "state credit" Democrats) and those who believed full payment unfeasible and sought only a partial payment (known as the "low tax" Democrats). In the gubernatorial race of 1880, each faction nominated its own candidate, causing the Democratic vote to be split, and allowing Republican Alvin Hawkins to win the election.[4]
Governor
In the 1882 gubernatorial race, the state's
After his inauguration, Bate signed his debt plan into law, finally resolving the debt issue that had dogged the state for over a decade.[2] There was still considerable anger over how the crisis was resolved, however, which threatened Bate's reelection chances in 1884. The Republican candidate, Nashville judge Frank T. Reid, mounted a strong campaign, but Bate won reelection by a vote of 132,201 to 125,246.[4]
During his first term, Bate signed into a law an act creating the State Railroad Commission to regulate railroad rates. Farmers, who deemed railroad freight rates too high, supported this, while railroad companies opposed it. The act creating this commission was repealed in 1885, however, angering farmers, and damaging Democrats' chances of holding onto the governor's office in the 1886 election.[4]
Later life
After Senator
Shortly after being elected to his fourth term, Bate attended the inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 4, 1905. He was believed to have caught a cold but died of pneumonia a few days later on March 9.[7] His body was returned to Nashville on a specially chartered train, and he was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery there. Members of the Frank Cheatham Bivouac, which consisted of surviving Confederate veterans, fired the final salute over his grave.[7]
Personal life
Bate married Julia Peete, the daughter of Samuel Peete, a prominent lawyer and scholar of Huntsville, Alabama. She was born in Huntsville and educated in the schools of Alabama and
In 1889, Bate was elected to the United States Senate, and she accompanied him to Washington. She usually resided there during the sessions of Congress, participating in the social affairs incident to Senatorial life. They had four daughters, two of whom lived to adulthood: Mrs. Thomas F. Mastin, Texas, and Susie, Mrs. O. D. Childs, Los Angeles. Susie Bate had been a much admired young lady in Washington society for several seasons. Mrs Bate was a member of the Methodist church and of several charitable organizations.[8]
Bate's paternal grandfather, Colonel Humphrey Bate (1779–1856), was an early settler in Sumner County.[9] Governor Bate's middle name was the surname of his paternal grandmother (Colonel Humphrey Bate's first wife), Elizabeth Brimage.[7] After the death of Elizabeth Brimage, Colonel Humphrey Bate married Anna Weatherred, sister of Governor Bate's mother, Amanda.[9] Several of Governor Bate's relatives, including his brother, Captain Humphrey Bate (1828–1862), were killed or wounded at the Battle of Shiloh.[7]
Dr. Humphrey Bate (1875–1936), a cousin of Governor Bate, was a noted harmonica player and string band leader. He was one of the first musicians to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in the 1920s.[9][10]
Further reading
- Chesney, William N. "The Public Career of William B. Bate." Master's thesis, University of Tennessee, 1951.
See also
- List of American Civil War generals (Confederate)
- List of governors of Tennessee
- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)
References
- Eicher, John H., and ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
- U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Recordsof the Union and Confederate Armies, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1880–1901.
- Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0-8071-0823-5.
- Welsh, Jack D., Medical Histories of Confederate Generals, Kent State University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-87338-853-5.
Notes
- ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 2022-01-19, retrieved 2022-01-25
- ^ a b c d e f g John Thweatt, William B. Bate, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, 2009. Retrieved: 6 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Edward Pollard, Lee and His Lieutenants (New York: E.B. Treat and Company, 1867), pp. 722–737.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Phillip Langsdon, Tennessee: A Political History (Franklin, Tenn.: Hillsboro Press, 2000), pp. 211-213.
- ^ United States Congress (1907). William Brimage Bate (late a senator from Tennessee) Memorial addresses: Fifty-ninth Congress, second session, Senate of the United States, January 17, 1907. House of representatives, January 20, 1907. Government Printing Office. pp. 74–75.
- ^ a b Warner, pp. 19–20.
- ^ a b c d e f Governor William Brimage Bate Papers (Finding Aid) Archived 2015-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Tennessee State Library and Archives, 1964. Retrieved: 4 November 2012.
- ^ Hinman, Ida (1895). The Washington Sketch Book. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b c Jay Guy Cisco, Historic Sumner County, Tennessee (Nashville, Tenn.: Charles Elder, 1971), pp. 223-226.
- ^ Charles Wolfe, "Dr. Humphrey Bate," The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 30.
External links
- William Brimage Bate – entry in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- William Brimage Bate – National Governors Association entry
- William Brimage Bate, late a senator from Tennessee, Memorial addresses delivered in the House of Representatives and Senate frontispiece 1907
- Governor William Brimage Bate Papers, 1883 - 1887, Tennessee State Library and Archives.