Bate's Brigade (CSA) Plaque - Chickamauga National Military Park
Posted by: Lat34North
N 34° 55.421 W 085° 15.589
16S E 658950 N 3865961
These two plaques to Bate's Brigade is located on the east side of Lafayette Road in Poe's Field, Chickamauga National Battlefield. The plaque describes the action at 11:00 a.m. on September 20, 1863.
Waymark Code: WME88Q
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 04/17/2012
Views: 1
This plaque describes the actions on Bate's Brigade during the
Battle of Chickamauga fought September 19–20, 1863. Bate's Brigade was commanded by Brig. Gen.
William B. Bate and consisted of the 58th Alabama, 37th Georgia, 4th Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters, 15th, 20th and 37th Tennessee and the Eufaula (Alabama ) Artillery. The lettering on the plaque is red indicating that was a Confederate brigade. The plaque describes the action at 11:00 a.m. on September 20, 1863. The leter "N" appears in the plaque.
The plaque reads:
Bate’s Brigade |
|
Stewart’s Division, | Bucker’s Corp’s. |
Brig. Gen. William B. Bate. |
Sept. 20, 1863, 11.M. |
|
58th Alabama | Col. Bushrod Jones. |
| 37th Georgia, | Lieut. Col. Joseph T. Smith. |
| 4th Georgia Battalion Sharpshooters | Lieut. Joel Towers. |
| 15th and 37th Tennessee, | Lieut. Col. R. Dudley Frayser, |
| 20th Tennessee, | Maj. W. M. Shy. |
| Eufaula Artillery (Alabama Battery), | Capt. McDonald Oliver |
|
About 11 o'clock Bate's brigade moved from beyond the first crest in the woods east of this position and at once became engaged with Union troops in line west of the Lafayette Road at the Poe place. Advancing through the open field was made under a fire which occasioned heavy loss. The left of the brigade crossed the road but was repulsed by the troops in the rail works west of the Poe field. The right was subjected to an oblique fire from E. A. King’s brigade and from a flank and rear fire from Turchin’s brigade. After an hour’s fighting and a loss of 30 per cent of those engaged the brigade fail back to its morning position where it remained until the general advance shortly before sunset.
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In his after action report, Brig. Gen. William B. Bate, states the following:
“My brigade went into the fight with muskets in the hands of one- third of the men, but after the first charge Saturday evening every man was supplied with a good Enfield rifle and ammunition to suit, which was used with effect on their original owners the next day. The dead and wounded of the enemy over which we passed in driving them back on Saturday and Sunday give an earnest of the telling effect produced upon them in both days fight. Besides arming itself with Enfield rifles, a detail from my command, under supervision of my ordnance officer, James E. Rice, gathered upon the field and conveyed t6 the ordnance train about 2,000 efficient guns. The pieces captured by Colonel Tyler and those in which Colonel Jones participated in the capture were taken to the rear and turned over to proper officers.”
“My command entered the fight Friday evening with 1,055 guns and 30 provost guard and a fair complement of officers, out of which number it lost 7 officers and 59 men killed and 541 wounded, 61 of whom were officers; making a total of 607. It is seen that every field officer in the brigade excepting three were wounded.”
Source: The war of the rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate armies; Volume XXX; Part 2 – Reports; OR 377 -
Brig. Gen. William B. Bate, C. S. Army, commanding brigade, Page 386
The Civil War in Georgia - The Chickamauga Campaign;
Official Records Index to Volume XXX, Chapter XLII, Part 2