POST-WAR CDV IMAGE OF SERGEANT GILBERT BATES 1ST WISCONSIN HEAVY ARTILLERY, KNOWN FOR WALKING ACROSS THE SOUTH CARRYING THE AMERICAN FLAG

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Item Code: 1054-994

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Full standing view of Sergeant Gilbert Bates in uniform holding a large American flag on a staff. Bates is wearing a dark frock coat and trousers. The coat has an odd variant of Sergeant’s chevrons on the one visible sleeve as well as some odd piping along the left side of the coat. The trousers have the correct wide NCO leg stripe.

Image is clear with good contrast. Bottom of the mount is preprinted with “SERGEANT BATES” along with printed publishing information and an 1872 date. Bottom of the image itself has what is believed to be Bates autograph. In period ink it is signed “SERGEANT BATES.”

Reverse has E. & H. T. ANTHONY back mark with a period inscription that reads “SAYBROOK ILLINOIS.”

An online biography of Bates reads as follows:

Gilbert Henderson Bates (February 13, 1836 – February 17, 1917) was an American soldier best known for his peaceful postwar marches, first throughout the American South and then through England. For each endeavor, Bates wanted to prove that he would be treated cordially in regions supposedly hostile to Americans and found himself warmly welcomed by the natives.

Bates was born in Springwater, Livingston County, New York. He died in 1917 and was buried in Saybrook, Illinois. Before the Civil War, Bates was a farmer in the town of Albion, near Edgerton, Wisconsin. He served as a sergeant in the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery Regiment. After the war, he returned to his farm. In November 1867, during Reconstruction, Bates had a conversation about the South with a neighbor, who said, "Sergeant, the Southerners are rebels yet. They are worse now than they were during the war. They hate the Union flag. No man dare show that flag anywhere in the South except in the presence of our soldiers." Bates replied, "You are mistaken. I can carry that flag myself from the Mississippi all over the rebel States, alone and unarmed, too." Thus began his march, reported at the time in numerous local and national newspapers, but now largely forgotten.

Bates won his bet. During a three-month "march", which started in Vicksburg where he was welcomed by the mayor, he walked 1,400 miles (2,300 km) across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia to Washington, carrying the Stars and Stripes, and he was granted hospitality all along the way. He recorded his journey in a pamphlet published in June 1868 titled The Triumphal March of Sergeant Bates from Vicksburg to Washington. In an irony of the times, although he was allowed to raise his flag over numerous official buildings in the South, including the state Capitol in Richmond, he was not granted permission to fly it at the Capitol in Washington.

Later, a wealthy friend of Bates's wagered $1,000 against $100 that Bates could not march the length of England carrying the Stars and Stripes without being insulted. This was due to the idea that many English supported the Confederacy during the Civil War because of cotton exports. On November 5, 1872, Bates, in full military uniform, began a 400 miles (640 km) march from the Scottish border to London. Throughout his travels in England, he was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and kindness of the villagers. Hoteliers refused to let him pay; people fought to feed him. By the end of November, he had reached London, but the crowds were so great he had to be driven in an open carriage to the Guildhall, where he ceremoniously hung the unsullied Stars and Stripes next to the Union Jack. Upon reaching London, Bates telegrammed his friend, "Cancel wager. I regard this mission as something finer than a matter of money."  [ad][ph:L]

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