Person:Benson Bates (1)

Benson R. Bates Benson R. Bates was born February 18, 1841 in Cobb County, Georgia. He is the eighth child of nine for Julius R. Bates and Lydia Hulsey Bates. He enlisted on February 28, 1862 in Nashville, Tennessee. He was ranked as a Sergeant in Company B, 55th Alabama Infantry, 4th Battalion. He was wounded in battle and was never able to return to service. The 55th Alabama Infantry Regiment was made up of Snodgrass' 16th and Norwood's 6th infantry battalions, the former of six companies, the latter of five. Snodgrass' Battalion was organized at Corinth in the spring of 1862 out of companies that had been in the service a year at that time, in the organizations of other states. They had fought at Shiloh, and the battalion itself had fought at the first siege of Vicksburg and in the battles of Baton Rouge and Corinth. Norwood's Battalion was organized at Clinton, MS, out of the five companies of Alabamians which had fought and been captured at Fort Donelson while part of Quarles "Tennessee" regiment. Organized at Port Hudson, Louisiana, in February 1863, with 900 veterans from Calhoun, Cherokee, Jackson, Madison, and Marshall counties, the 55th fought at Baker's Creek in Gen'l Abraham Buford's Brigade, Gen'l William W. Loring's Division, losing considerably. It fought at jackson in the subsequent operations in Mississippi. As part of Gen'l Scott's Brigade, the regiment was attached to the Army of Tennessee in the spring of 1864. It was much reduced by the constant fighting on the retreat from Dalton, but it entered the Battle of Peach Tree Creek (20 July 1864) with 22 officer and 256 men, losing 14 officer and 155 men k and w. After some further skirmishing, the 55th participated in the winter campaign in Tennessee, with long lists of casualties at both Franklin and Nashville. Proceeding to North Carolina, the regiment surrendered at Greensboro, much reduced, under Col. John Snodgrass, 26 April 1865. Field and staff officers: Col. John Snodgrass (Jackson); Lt. Col. John H. Norwood (Jackson; wounded, Peach Tree Creek); Majors Joseph H. Jones (Jackson; KIA, Peach Tree Creek); James B. Dickey (Madison); and Adjutants Hal C. Bradford (detached); J. C. Howell (Cherokee; KIA, Peach Tree Creek)