American Civil War William Brimage Bate (October 7, 1826 – March 9, 1905) was a planter and slaveholder, Confederate officer, and politician in Tennessee.

During the Civil War, he had fought for the Confederacy, eventually rising to the rank of major general and commanding a division in the Army of Tennessee.

He was eventually hired as a clerk on the steamboat, Saladin, which traveled up and down the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers between Nashville and New Orleans.

[3] After the war, Bate returned to his family farm in Sumner County, and established a pro-Democratic Party newspaper, the Tenth Legion, in nearby Gallatin.

[2] Following the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Bate enlisted in a private company in Gallatin, and was elected as its captain.

Bate's unit marched north with the Army of Mississippi in its attempt to check Ulysses S. Grant's advance at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.

[3] After spending several months recovering in Columbus, Mississippi, Bate was promoted to brigadier general on October 2, 1862.

He was initially given tasks away from the frontlines in North Alabama, but when he demanded a return to action, General Braxton Bragg created an infantry brigade for him to command in the Army of Tennessee.

[3] He was shot in the knee in a skirmish at Willis' Grist Mill near Atlanta on August 10, and was bedridden in Barnesville, Georgia, for several weeks.

[3] Bate's division remained with Cheatham's Corps during the 1865 Carolinas Campaign, during which he saw action at the Battle of Bentonville in March.

In the gubernatorial race of 1880, each faction nominated its own candidate, causing the Democratic vote to be split, and allowing Republican Alvin Hawkins to win the election.

On election day, Bate won with 120,637 votes to 93,168 for the incumbent, Hawkins, 9,660 for Greenback candidate John Beasley, and 4,814 for Fussell.

The Republican candidate, Nashville judge Frank T. Reid, mounted a strong campaign, but Bate won reelection by a vote of 132,201 to 125,246.

The act creating this commission was repealed in 1885, however, angering farmers, and damaging Democrats' chances of holding onto the governor's office in the 1886 election.

[4] After Senator Howell Jackson resigned in 1886, Bate appointed Washington C. Whitthorne to complete his term, which was set to expire in March 1887.

He supported lower taxes, and favored funding for common schools, the United States Weather Bureau, and the Army Signal Corps.

[2] Shortly after being elected to his fourth term, Bate attended the inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt on March 4, 1905.

Members of the Frank Cheatham Bivouac, which consisted of surviving Confederate veterans, fired the final salute over his grave.

During the two successive terms that her husband was Governor of Tennessee, Mrs. Bate presided with grace and dignity over the State Executive Mansion.