Courage to Persevere Despite the Odds
"Gettysburg: Stories of Monumental Courage"
A Broadcast For Students and Teachers from Gettysburg National Military Park
Broadcast date: May 21, 2002
 Colonel William Calvin Oates was born on November 30, 1833, in Pike County, Alabama, the son of poor farmers. At Gettysburg he would be in the fight of his life, but he was already accustomed to fights, military and otherwise. As a teenager he developed a reputation as a troublemaker. While traveling west before the war, there was an altercation where a man was severely beaten and a warrant was issued for Oates' arrest. He escaped capture and wound up in Texas. He eventually returned to Alabama where he settled in as a schoolteacher, and in 1858 he passed the bar exam. He and his brother John opened a law practice in Abbeville, Alabama on his 25th birthday.
In the years preceding the war, Oates bought a small newspaper company in Abbeville. These were turbulent times in the United States with the threat of war always looming. William's newspaper was openly opposed to secession by Southern states. Yet when the war erupted in 1861, he immediately raised a company of volunteers and was elected captain. He rose to the occasion with a natural ability to lead his new soldiers who were assigned to the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment. When he and his men went off to the war, one father earnestly told Oates, "Captain Oates, take care of my boy." There was not a great deal that Oates could do for his men during the rigors Gettysburg Campaign and battle, but his leadership became an important element when the 15th Alabama was committed to battle on July 2 at Little Round Top. After Gettysburg, Oates continued to command troops in the field. In 1864 he was severely wounded, and his arm required amputation. Out of the war for good, Oates returned to Alabama where he took up politics in the post-war era, severing in the state legislature and later in the U.S Congress as a representative from his home state. He left congress to run for governor of Alabama in 1894 and served a two-year term. At the outbreak of the Spanish American War, Oates secured a commission as a "Yankee General" and commanded troops in training camps. After this war ended he returned to practice law and became active in veteran's affairs and interest in the marking of lines of battle at Gettysburg National Military Park. He wrote extensively and authored a book, The War Between the Union and the Confederacy in which he recalled the many battles in which he participated. Oates died on September 9, 1910, and was buried in Montgomery, Alabama with full military honors. |
Little Round Top is a rocky hill on the southern end of Cemetery Ridge, and a key feature of the battlefield. Unlike the thickly wooded Big Round Top, this smaller hill had been partially cleared of trees a year or more prior to the battle. Strewn with loose rocks and large boulders, it offered a natural position from which to defend this important end of the Union line. Yet, with the exception of a handful of Union soldiers, it remained largely unoccupied until late on the afternoon of July 2. Sent by General Meade to inspect the Union left, General Warren rode up to Little Round Top and quickly realized the hill's importance. Swiftly he moved a brigade of Union troops to the hill and they formed a line of battle on the south side of the hill. On the left side of this line was the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment commanded by Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, who's soldiers were about to meet the 15th Alabama Infantry commanded by Colonel William C. Oates.
The 15th Alabama Volunteer Infantry was raised from various parts of the state and by the time of Gettysburg, were veterans of many campaigns. Beginning on the morning of July 2, they began a march that was to last all day and carry them nearly 18 miles before they reached the base of Little Round Top. Just before the attack began, the men had given their empty canteens to a group of soldiers to fill at a nearby farm house, but the order to move arrived and the 15th started the attack without their water. Oates led his thirsty men under fire from artillery and sharpshooters through open farm fields and into the woods at the base of Big Round Top. Up the steep hill the men clambered. At the summit of Big Round Top, Colonel Oates decided to stop to give his men a rest and perhaps hold this hill. But a courier arrived and ordered Oates to continue their attack northward toward the smaller hill where the 20th Maine waited.
Soon joined by the 4th Alabama, the 15th marched down the hillside with rifles at the ready. Bursting out of the trees at the base of the hill, Colonel Oates saw a solid line of Union troops among the boulders and rocks of Little Round Top. The opponents immediately opened fire. The men forged ahead and the contest for Little Round Top had begun.
Oates' soldiers made several charges against the equally stubborn Maine regiment. All along the line rifles blazed fire and smoke, the lead bullets singing through the trees, smashing into boulders and men alike. Oates realized that this was one of the most severe battles in which he had been involved:
"I ordered my regiment to change direction to the left, swing around, and drive the Federals from the ledge of rocks, for the purpose of enfilading their line (and) gain the enemy's rear, and drive him from the hill. My men obeyed and advanced about half way to the enemy's position, but the fire was so destructive that my line wavered like a man trying to walk against a strong wind, and then slowly, doggedly, gave back a little; then with no one upon the left or right of me, my regiment exposed, while the enemy was still under cover, to stand there and die was sheer folly; either to retreat or advance became a necessity. Captain (Henry C.) Brainard, one of the bravest and best officers in the regiment, in leading his company forward, fell, exclaiming, 'O God! that I could see my mother,' and instantly expired. Lieutenant John A. Oates, my dear brother, succeeded to the command of the company, but was pierced through by a number of bullets, and fell mortally wounded. Lieutenant (Barnett) Cody fell mortally wounded, Captain (William J.) Bethune and several other officers were seriously wounded, while the carnage in the ranks was appalling. I again ordered the advance, knowing the officers and men of that gallant old regiment, I felt sure that they would follow their commanding officer anywhere in the line of duty. I passed through the line waving my sword, shouting, 'Forward, men, to the ledge!' and promptly followed by the command in splendid style. We drove the Federals from their strong defensive position; five times they rallied and charged us, twice coming so near that some of my men had to use the bayonet, but in vain was their effort. It was our time now to deal death and destruction to a gallant foe, and the account was speedily settled. I led this charge and sprang upon the ledge of rock, using my pistol within musket length, when the rush of my men drove the Maine men from the ledge. About forty steps up the slope there is a large boulder about midway the Spur. The Maine regiment charged my line, coming right up in a hand-to-hand encounter. My regimental colors were just a step or two to the right of that boulder, and I was within ten feet. A Maine man reached to grasp the staff of the colors when Ensign (John G.) Archibald stepped back and Sergeant Pat O'Connor stove his bayonet through the head of the Yankee, who fell dead. There never were harder fighters than the Twentieth Maine men their gallant Colonel. His skill and persistency and the great bravery of his men saved Little Round Top and the Army of the Potomac from defeat."
 The 15th Alabama battles the 20th Maine at Little Round Top on July 2. (War Between the Union & Confederacy) |
"My dead and wounded were then nearly as great in number as those still on duty. They literally covered the ground. The blood stood in puddles in some places on the rocks; the ground was soaked with the blood of as brave men as ever fell on the red field of battle."
Seeing that to stay at this spot was useless, Oates ordered a retreat. At the very moment that Oates gave his signal and the 15th Alabama began to fall back, the 20th Maine charged down the hill with bayonets leveled, catching the Alabamians completely by surprise. "We ran like a herd of wild cattle," Oates explained in his later years. Many Confederates were captured as they attempted to flee. Others, including Oates, ran up the slope of Big Round Top and eluded the pursuing Union troops. In the rush of retreat, Oates had to leave behind his younger brother John, who later died as a prisoner-of-war in a Union field hospital.
On the southern tip of Warfield Ridge stands the Alabama Monument, that state's tribute to the Alabamians who served at Gettysburg. It was from this location that General Law's brigade, including Colonel Oates' 15th Alabama Infantry, set out to attack Devil's Den and Little Round Top on the second day of the battle. A central female figure represents the state of Alabama and signifies pride in her native sons to who she points in the direction they must go. A wounded soldier passes his cartridge box to the figure of "Determination" who will continue into battle despite the odds. Set on a base of Vermont Granite and surrounded by a flagstone terrace and walk, the monument cost the state of Alabama $12,000 to erect. The design and sculpture is the work of artist Joseph W. Urner of Frederick, Maryland. It was dedicated by the Alabama Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy on November 12, 1933. |
The Battle of Gettysburg was one of Colonel Oates's worst memories of his experiences during the Civil War, a nightmare he could never forget. He wrote extensively in the post-war period about the battle and the career of his regiment and, for the rest of his life, he mourned the loss of his brother John on the slopes of Little Round Top. But he also regretted the lost opportunity that the battle for the hill represented to Lee's army, the Confederate cause, and his own pride as an officer. If one more Confederate regiment had stormed the far left of the Army of the Potomac with the 15th Alabama, Oates later asserted, "We would have completely turned the flank and have won Little Round Top, which would have forced Meade's whole left wing to retire."
Despite his exhaustion and the uncertainty of what lay ahead, Oates had found the courage to continue to lead his men into the face of danger at Little Round Top and to persevere despite the obstacles that lay ahead.
Questions to consider!
Go on to Scene 4- Courage to Face Consequences.
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GETTYSBURG: STORIES OF MONUMENTAL COURAGE
A Live Satellite Broadcast- May 21, 2002
National
Park Service
Gettysburg
National Military Park
97 Taneytown Road
Gettysburg, PA 17325
