JOHN COALTER BATES was born in St. Charles County, Missouri, on 26 August 1842; was educated at Washington University of St. Louis; was commissioned a first lieutenant and assigned to the 11th Infantry, May 1861; served in the 11th with the Army of the Potomac during the Civil War, including the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and as aide to General George G. Meade; was promoted to captain, May 1863; received the brevet of major for faithful and meritorious service in the field, August 1864; was brevetted lieutenant colonel for gallant and meritorious service in operations resulting in the fall of Richmond and surrender of Lee's Army, April 1865; was transferred to the 20th Infantry, 1866; served on the Indian frontier from junior officer to regimental commander with extended service in both the 20th and 2d Infantry, 1866-1898; commanded a company on escort duty with the Northern Pacific Railroad survey party, 1871, and commanded the troops that captured insurgent Creek Indians during Indian Territory disturbances, 1883; was promoted to major (1882), lieutenant colonel (1886), and colonel (1892); was a member of a board that considered magazine rifles for Army use; upon the outbreak of the War with Spain, was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers, May 1898; commanded the American base at Siboney and participated in the assault on El Caney; was promoted to major general of volunteers, July 1898, and commanded the 3d Division, V Corps, in the closing stages of the Santiago campaign; commanded the Department of Santa Clara, 1899; was transferred to the Philippines, directed affairs in the Jolo-Mindanao districts and negotiated a treaty on American sovereignty with the Sultan of Sulu, 1899; was reappointed to major general of volunteers, 1900; commanded the 1st Division, VIII Corps, conducted operations against insurgents in southern Luzon, and then commanded that department, 1900-1901; was commissioned a brigadier general in the Regular Army, February 1901, and promoted to major general, July 1902; commanded a provisional division in maneuvers at Fort Riley, 1902; commanded the Departments of the Missouri and the Lakes, 1901-1904; commanded the Northern Division, 1904-1905; was chief of staff of the United States Army, 15 January-13 April 1906; was promoted to lieutenant general, February 1906; retired from active service, April 1906; died in San Diego, California, 4 February 1919.


The Artist

Cedric Baldwin Egeli (1936- ), portrait painter, art teacher, and founder of the Maryland Society of Portrait Painters, is represented in the collections of the state of Maryland with portraits of John Hanson, Lord Sterling, Judy Agnew, and Blair Lee. Among his portraits of prominent military figures are those of Admiral Arleigh Burke and General Arthur G. Trudeau in the collection of the American Defense Preparedness Association in Arlington, Virginia. He was elected as an "Exceptional Member" of the American Portrait Society, and his widely acclaimed work has appeared in many exhibitions and won him numerous prizes-the National Portrait Competition's Best in Show Award (1979), the Corcoran's Prix de Rome Award, the American Artists Professional League's Gold Medal, and the Anne Arundel County Cultural Arts Foundation's Annie Award for Visual Arts (2001). His portrait of Lt. Gen. John C. Bates was developed from a black and white photograph, and is reproduced from the Army Art Collection.

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Painting:  John Coalter Bates.  By Cedric Baldwin Egeli.
John Coalter Bates
By Cedric Baldwin Egeli
Oil on canvas, 36" x 30", 1974

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Last updated 24 February 2006