Background
Oates was born in Pike County, Alabama, to William and Sarah (Sellers) Oates, a poor farming family.
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Oates was born in Pike County, Alabama, to William and Sarah (Sellers) Oates, a poor farming family.
He studied law at the Lawrenceville Academy in Lawrenceville and passed the bar examination, and then opened a practice in Abbeville.
At the age of 17, he believed that he had killed a man in a violent brawl and left home for Florida. Oates joined the Confederate States Army in 1861 and eventually became the commander of the 15th Alabama infantry regiment in the spring of 1863. Oates later stated that if even a single additional Confederate regiment had joined the assault, the attack could have succeeded, turning the Union"s flank and threatening the entire Army of the Potomac.
Oates stated:
His skill and persistency and the great bravery of his men saved Little Round Top and the Army of the Potomac from defeat.
Oates participated in the battles of Chickamauga, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, and Cold Harbor. After transferring to the 48th Alabama, he was wounded near St. Petersburg, Virginia, losing his right arm, which ended his active service.
Oates resumed his law practice in Henry County, Alabama, and served as a delegate to the 1868 Democratic National Convention. In 1880, he was elected to the United States. House of Representatives, where he served seven consecutive terms.
Oates married Sarah Toney of Eufaula on March 28, 1882, and they had one son, William Calvin, Junior., who eventually joined his father in the law practice.
Oates was elected governor of Alabama in 1894 in a bitter campaign. Two years later, he unsuccessfully tried to secure his party"s nomination as a candidate for the United States Senate. President William McKinley commissioned Oates as a brigadier general in 1898 and he served in the Spanish American War.
He returned to his law practice and speculated in real estate.
Oates died in Montgomery, and is buried there in Oakwood Cemetery.
From 1870 to 1872, he was a member of the Alabama House of Representatives.