UNIFORMED AND ARMED 8th MISSOURI “AMERICAN ZOUAVES” VETERAN WILLIAM H. BATES

UNIFORMED AND ARMED 8th MISSOURI “AMERICAN ZOUAVES” VETERAN WILLIAM H. BATES

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Item Code: 2025-3444

A dynamic 1892 cabinet card format photograph of Civil War veteran William Henry Bates of the 8th Missouri in his wartime uniform and gear. The habits of Civil War drill also kicked in for the photograph- he is shown in the “Middle Guard” position of the wartime bayonet tactics. Born in New London, OH, in 1840, Bates lived in Indiana and in Chicago before moving to the Peoria, Illinois, area just before the war, where the census picks him up as a printer in 1860. He was among a group of Illinois residents throwing in their lot with pro-Union forces in Missouri, enlisting  in the 8th Missouri, “The American Zouaves,” June 6, 1861, and serving in Company C and then Company H in August-September 1861, a company reportedly containing a number of men from the Peoria and Pekin, Illinois, area, until discharged at the expiration of his term of service as of June 12, 1864, at St. Louis.

Bates is identified on the reverse of the image and the identification is supported by other sources. In fact, this is one of at least two photographs Bates had taken of himself in his old uniform at the same time. Another photo, showing him armed and uniformed but without canteen and blanket roll, and showing him posed at “Shoulder Arms,” has been published and bears an 1892-dated inscription on its reverse to his daughter telling her that by subtracting the chin whiskers and adding some flesh to the face she will have a good idea of what he looked like when he went off to war. He notes that with that image he was also presenting her with “its companion,” which must be this image. The subject is the same, as is the photographer and backdrop.

The photo is very clear and has good tones, showing just a horizontal crease below his knees and a couple of short vertical creases on the bottom edge. It would be evident from the photo alone that he was wearing his wartime uniform and gear: the relatively coarse texture of his shirt and trousers is clear in the image, as is the dark end stripe of his rolled blanket. His canteen lacks a cover and has a leather strap, which might be an early war issued or wartime replacement for a cloth strap, and shows some portions of a painted decoration- something not uncommon on canteens brought home by veterans and displayed as mementos of service. He also wears a kepi and waistbelt is portions of its oval US belt plate and a bayonet scabbard visible. In the note to his daughter he described his uniform as, “The zouave jacket was dark blue with trimming of red braid (blue braid could not be secured early in 1861); the shirt of coarse gray wool; the pants light blue wool (the regiment voted unanimously against the red, baggy zouave pants), and the cap of dark blue.” He was unlikely to have taken home a musket when mustered out in mid-1864. It may have come from a local G.A.R. Post for the occasion.

The 8th Missouri was an active regiment, seeing action at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and other engagements, suffering the loss of 3 officers and 78 enlisted men in killed or mortally wounded alone. Bates himself was credited with participation in 26 engagements in his 1940 obituary. The regiment was organized at St. Louis from June 12 to August 14, 1861, and contained a good number of men from Illinois. Dyer’s Compendium lists the following regimental assignments: Attached to Cape Girardeau, Mo., to September, 1861. District of Paducah, Ky., to February, 1862. 5th Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Cairo, February, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Army of the Tennessee, to May, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to July, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., to November, 1862. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps, December, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January, 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division. 15th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, to August, 1865.

During Bates’s service with it, they saw the following service: Expedition against guerrillas on line of Northern Missouri Railroad July 1-24, 1861 (Cos. "B," "C"). Mexico, Mo., July 15. Wentzville July 15-17. Millville July 16. Moved to Cape Girardeau, Mo., July 29, and duty there till September 7. Expedition to Price's Landing, Commerce, Benton and Hamburg August 7-10 (Co. "F"). Expedition to St. Genevieve August 15-16. Moved to Paducah, Ky., September 7-8, and duty there till February 5, 1862. Expedition to Caseyville, Ky., November 30, 1861 (3 Cos.). Moved to Fort Henry, Tenn., February 5, 1862. Investment and capture of Fort Donelson, Tenn., February 12-16. Expedition to Clarksville February 19-21. Moved to Savannah, Tenn. Expedition toward Purdy and operations about Crump's Landing march 9-14. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Lick Creek April 24. Corinth Road April 25. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Russell House, near Corinth, May 17. March to Memphis, Tenn., June 3-21, via Lagrange, Holly Springs and Moscow. Duty at Memphis till November. Expedition to Coldwater and Hernando, Miss., September 9-13. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November-December. "Tallahatchie March" November 26-December 12. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. Moved to Young's Point, La., January 13-22, and duty there till March. Expedition to Rolling Fork, via Muddy, Steele's and Black Bayous and Deer Creek March 4-27. Demonstrations on Haines' and Drumgould's Bluffs April 29-May 2. March to join army in rear of Vicksburg, via Richmond and Grand Gulf, May 2-16. Battle of Champion's Hill May 16. Siege of Vicksburg, Miss., May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Canton July 17-18. Brandon July 20. At Big Black River till October 3. Moved to Memphis, Tenn. thence march to Chattanooga, Tenn., October 3-November 21. Operations on Memphis & Charleston Railroad in Alabama October 20-29. Bear Creek, Tuscumbia, October 27. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Brown's Ferry November 23. Foot of Missionary Ridge November 24. Tunnel Hill, Missionary Ridge, November 24-25. Pursuit to Graysville November 26-27. March to relief of Knoxville November 28-December 5. Expedition to Tellico Plains December 6-13. March to Chattanooga December 13-17. Garrison duty in Alabama till May, 1864. Expedition from Larkins' Landing to Guntersville March 2-3. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1-September 8. Demonstration on Resaca May 8-13. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Advance on Dallas May 18-25. Battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Guard duty at Big Shanty. Non-Veterans ordered home for muster out June 5. Mustered out July 7, 1864.

Bates’s background as a printer came in handy during his army service. After occupying the town of Mexico, Missouri, in July 1861 he and several compatriots took over a local press to turn out copies of a half-sheet pro-Union paper they titled “The Star Spangled Banner.” He returned to that profession after leaving the army, settling in Pekin, marrying in 1865, working as a printer, publisher, and sometime editor of the “The Tazewell Republican.” He was active in veterans’ groups, had at least four children, and passed away in 1930. Some of his papers are held by the county genealogical and historical society.

This is a very cool photo of a veteran clearly proud of his service, his role in preserving the Union, and perhaps also somewhat in his flashy uniform. We find him called “Colonel Bates” in some obituaries, likely an honorific for his military service rather than an official military rank.  [sr] [ph:L]

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