William Gates (6 April 1788 – 7 October 1868) was a long serving career

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer who served on active duty from when he entered West Point as a cadet in 1801 until his final retirement in 1867. He was a veteran of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Geography of Florida, Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native Americans in the United States, Native American nation whi ...

, the Mexican War and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, to which he was called to duty at the age of 73.

Early life

He was born on 6 April 1788 in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

. He was the son of Captain Lemuel Gates, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and attended

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = Ma ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, graduating in 1800.

Military career

Gates was one of the first cadets at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

when he was appointed as a cadet on 2 March 1801. He graduated on 6 March 1806, and was commissioned in the Army as a second lieutenant in the Regiment of Artillerists. He was the 11th cadet to graduate West Point and was ranked first in the Class of 1806. He served in garrison at forts along the Atlantic seaboard from 1806 to 1812. He was promoted to first lieutenant on 3 November 1807.

War of 1812

In the War of 1812 he served as acting adjutant of Regiment of Light Artillery, and Aide-de-camp to Brevet Brigadier General

Moses Porter Moses Porter (20 March 1756 – 14 April 1822) was a general in the United States Army during the War of 1812. His career lasted for over 40 years and he is one of the few officers who served in both the American Revolution and the War of 1812. ...

in 1813, being engaged in the capture of York (now

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

) in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

on 27 April 1813. He was promoted to captain on 3 March 1813. Gates then participated in the bombardment and capture of Fort George on 27 May 1813. He was placed in command of Fort Independence, Massachusetts from 1813 to 1815. This coincided with British capturing

Castine, Maine Castine ( ) is a town in Hancock County in eastern Maine.; John Faragher. ''Great and Nobel Scheme''. 2005. p. 68. The population was 1,320 at the 2020 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduate ...

in 1814 which created the fear that any part of the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

coast might be subject to attack but no attacks were made against Massachusetts. The war ended with the news of the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

had been signed in early 1815.

Middle career

Gates was in garrison at

Fort Niagara Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built by New France to protect its interests in North America, specifically control of access between the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes. The fort is on the river's e ...

, New York from 1815 to 1820. He spent the next several years at various posts in New York state including

Madison Barracks File:Madison Barracks.jpg File:Madison Barracks02.jpg File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower.jpg File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower 02.jpg Madison Barracks was a military installation established in 1813 or 1815 at Sackets Harbor, New York, Sackets Harb ...

Sackett's Harbor Sackets Harbor (earlier spelled Sackett (surname), Sacketts Harbor) is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States, on Lake Ontario. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. The village was named after land developer and owner Augu ...

from 1820 to 1821; Plattsburg from 1821 to 1824;

Fort Lafayette Fort Lafayette was an island coastal fortification in the Narrows of New York Harbor, built offshore from Fort Hamilton at the southern tip of what is now Bay Ridge in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The fort was built on a natural island ...

from 1824 to 1826 and

Fort Columbus A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Governor's Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk C ...

from 1826 to 1827. He was awarded a brevet (honorary promotion) to the rank of major on March 3, 1823, for "Faithful Service Ten Years in one Grade". He next series of assignments brought him south and included

Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack b ...

in Maryland in 1827;

Fort Marion The Castillo de San Marcos (Spanish for "St. Mark's Castle") is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish ...

in Florida from 1827 to 1829;

Fort Moultrie Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and n ...

near

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

in 1829 and Fort Marion, Florida from 1829 to 1832. Gates was promoted to major of 1st Artillery Regiment on May 30, 1832. He was assigned to

Fort Monroe Fort Monroe, managed by partnership between the Fort Monroe Authority for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the National Park Service as the Fort Monroe National Monument, and the City of Hampton, is a former military installation in Hampton, Virgi ...

, Virginia (where he served as the major of Artillery School for Practice), in 1832 and then to Charleston, South Carolina, from 1832‑33, (which was during South Carolina's threatened nullification) and again to Fort Moultrie from 1833‑35.

Seminole War

He was assigned to Fort Washington, Maryland from 1835 to 1836 and then served in the Seminole War in Florida from 1836 to 1838. He fought against the Seminole Indians in defense of Fort Barnwell (Volusia) on April 12, 1836. In June of that year he was

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

ed for cowardice, having failed to retrieve the bodies of slain soldiers outside his

bulwark Bulwark primarily refers to: * Bulwark (nautical), a nautical term for the extension of a ship's side above the level of a weather deck * Bastion, a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification The Bulwark primarily refe ...

, resulting in their being mutilated by the Seminoles. Gates transferred to the 2nd Artillery Regiment on August 4, 1836. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the 3d Artillery on 17 December 1836. Gates arrested Seminole leader

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Muscogee language, Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a S ...

Congressional Serial Set - Google Books
/ref> on October 21, 1837 during peace negotiations at

(a.k.a. Castillo San Marcos) in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

. Osceola was sent to

near

where he died a few weeks later. He was in the combat of Locha-Hatchee on January 24, 1838, in the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

, while transferring the Indians to the West. He returned to Florida from 1839 to 1842 and served in garrison at

Fort Pickens Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and was one of the few ...

War with Mexico

He served at

from 1842‑43 and in Savannah, Georgia from 1843 to 1844 before returning to Fort Moultrie from 1844 to 1846. He was promoted to colonel in command of the 3rd Artillery Regiment on 13 October 1845 which made him one of the highest-ranking officers in the Army. He served in the

War with Mexico War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, from 1846 to 1848, as Governor of

Tampico, Mexico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

. He served as the commander of

Fort Adams Fort Adams is a former United States Army post in Newport, Rhode Island that was established on July 4, 1799 as a First System coastal fortification, named for President John Adams who was in office at the time. Its first commander was Capt ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

from 1848 to 1853.

Wreck of SS ''San Francisco''

Late in 1853 Gates and his regiment were ordered to be stationed in California. Gates was on board, along with hundreds of his soldiers and their families, the ill-fated steamer SS ''San Francisco'' when it was wrecked in a storm on 24 December 1853. An investigation of the incident found Gates to be delinquent in this duties and he was placed on waiting orders (i.e. with no active assignment) from 1854 until 1861.

Civil War service

With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 the Union needed to maximize its resources and Gates was given an active assignment, despite being 73 years old. In December 1861 he assumed command of

Fort Trumbull Fort Trumbull is a fort near the mouth of the Thames River on Long Island Sound in New London, Connecticut and named for Governor Jonathan Trumbull. The original fort was built in 1777, but the present fortification was built between 1839 and ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

. He was retired from the Army on 1 June 1863, under the retirement law of 17 July 1862, for having served in the Army for more than 45 years. Due to wartime needs, however, he continued to command Fort Trumbull until he was reassigned in March 1864 to

Fort Constitution Fort William and Mary was a colonial fortification in Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situ ...

near

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

. He remained at Fort Constitution until his full retirement in 1867 after 66 years of military service. After the Civil War, Gates was breveted as a brigadier general for "Long and Faithful Service in the Army" to rank from March 13, 1865.

Death

General Gates died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on 7 October 1868, at the age of 80. He is buried in the

Cypress Hills National Cemetery Cypress Hills National Cemetery is a cemetery located in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is the only United States National Cemetery in New York City and has more than 21,100 interments of veterans and civilians. ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

.Gen William Gates (1788 - 1868) - Find A Grave Memorial
/ref>

References

*Register of Graduates of the United States Military Academy. George W. Cullum. Vol. 1. *Dictionary of American Biography *http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/11*.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, William 1788 births 1868 deaths People from Gloucester, Massachusetts Phillips Academy alumni United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 American people of the Seminole Wars American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Union Army colonels