Person:Julius Bates (5)

Julius R. Jr. died in the Civil War

Julius R. Bates Jr.

Julius R. Bates Jr. was the son of Julius R. Bates Sr. and Lydia Hulsey. He was 24 years young when he enlisted on August 13, 1861 at Kirks Grove, Alabama. He became a 2nd Lt. in Company E. 19th Alabama Infantry. He was 5'8 in height and had blue eyes and black hair. He worked on the family farm until his enlistment. He was born April 9, 1837 in Murray County, Georgia. He was the sixth child of nine born to Julius R. Bates Sr. and his wife, Lydia Hulsey. Julius R. Bates Jr. was wounded at the Battle of Corinth and died May 28, 1862 in a hospital in Corinth, Mississippi. A Confederate Stone has been placed in John Bates Cemetery, Eton, Georgia in honor of his military service. The 19th Alabama Regiment remained three months in camp in Huntsville under the instruction of its able commander, Colonel (later Lieutenant General) Joe Wheeler. In November 1861, the regiment was ordered to Dog River, below Mobile (Camp Memmemger). After two months camping at Dog River, it was ordered to the Navy Yard at Pensacola, Fla.; stationed there a few weeks, was ordered to Corinth, Miss., via Montgomery and Mobile. At Corinth, the 19th Ala joined General Albert Sydney Johnston's army, concentrating there, preparing for the great Battle of Shiloh, fought April 6th and 7th, 1862. In this fearful, bloody battle, the regiment received its first baptism of blood and lost 219 killed and wounded, amounting to one-third of its aggregate strength. Quoting from Colonel Wheeler's report: "The Regiment here exhibited an example of cool, heroic courage which would do credit to soldiers of long experience in battle. Subjected as they were to a deadly fire of artillery and a crossfire of infantry, they stood their ground with firmness and delivered their fire rapidly, but with cool deliberations and good effect. ...Exposed as they had been for two nights previous, to drenching rains, without tents and with little covering, they were, of course, somewhat jaded, but at the first sound of the enemy's guns they moved forward with a cheerful alacrity and good order that showed clearly that it was such music as they loved. Under fire almost incessantly the first day, they moved from one position to another as they were ordered, not only with firmness, but with enthusiasm."