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, naturalist, and designer of stained glass, 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. While in the military service in the early 1960s, Egeli executed several murals for the Sandia Base Museum at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Others of his murals are in a number of business establishments in his home state. His work has appeared in many exhibitions, and in 1979 he won the Best in Show Award at the National Portrait Seminar. His portrait of General John C. Bates was created from a black and white photograph.

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

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