Background
Bates was born on March 5, 1817 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was physician George Bates who was a friend of Andrew Jackson, and mother was Eliza Hall.
Bates was born on March 5, 1817 in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was physician George Bates who was a friend of Andrew Jackson, and mother was Eliza Hall.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1837, and was breveted as a second lieutenant in the artillery. After resigning his commission on July 20, 1842, he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied law and was admitted to the Barometer
He was a leading recruiter and organizer of many of the first regiments of Ohio troops who volunteered after President Abraham Lincoln"s call to arms in the spring of 1861. He subsequently served five years in the Regular army, including spending time in Florida in 1837-1838 during the Seminole Wars. He was assigned to Cleveland, Ohio, during the Canada border disturbances from 1839 to 1841.
Their children were:
Clement Bates born April 1, 1845
Charles Jarvis Bates born November 5, 1847
William Scarborough Bates born February 7, 1852
Merrick Linley Bates born June 14, 1855
James Harvey Simpson Bates born August 28, 1863
Bates joined the Ohio state militia and became a brigadier general.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was commissioned in the Union Army as a Brigadier General of Volunteers on April 27, 1861 and was assigned to Department of the Sanitary Commission and served as the commander of Camp Harrison near Cincinnati. Along with two other militia generals, he helped establish Camp Dennison, a sprawling military complex north of Cincinnati.
He helped organize fifteen regiments of infantry for service in the field Believing that he was too old at age forty-four to go into combat, Bates resigned his commission as brigadier general of United States. Volunteers on August 27, 1861, but remained active in the militia.
As president of the Cincinnati Committee of Public Safety, Bates commanded a division when Cincinnati was threatened by Confederates forces in the summer of 1863.
Again returning to civilian life, Bates resumed his law practice in Cincinnati. He was again a state senator from 1876 to 1878. He was the president of the Cincinnati Bar Association from 1881 to 1882.
In 1892 General Bates joined the Aztec Club of 1847 as an hereditary member by virtue of the service of his father Surgeon Charles J. Bates, United States Navy. Bates died on July 26, 1908 in Cincinnati at the age of 91.
He is among several former Union Army generals who were buried in the city"s Spring Grove Cemetery.
One of the earthwork fortifications in northern Kentucky which defended Cincinnati was named Bates Battery in his honor.
He became a member of the Ohio State Senate in 1864 and served until 1866.