thumb|right|Oates as a soldier during the [[United States Civil War|Civil War]]
thumb|A historic marker honoring Oates stands next to the [[Henry County, Alabama|Henry County Courthouse in Abbeville.]]
William Calvin Oates (either November 30 or December 1, 1835September 9, 1910) was a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, the 29th governor of Alabama from 1894 to 1896, and a brigadier general in the U.S. Army during the Spanish–American War.
Early life
Oates was born in Pike County, Alabama, to William and Sarah (Sellers) Oates, a poor farming family. All of his ancestors came to North America during the colonial era, and all of them came from the two countries of England and Wales. At the age of 17, he believed that he had killed a man in a violent brawl and left home for Florida. Oates became a drifter, settling in Texas for a couple of years before returning to Alabama at the urging of his younger brother John, who the family had dispatched to locate him. He studied law at the Lawrenceville Academy in Lawrenceville and passed the bar examination, and then opened a practice in Abbeville.
Civil War
William C. Oates joined the Confederate States Army in July 1861 and entered the army as captain, 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment, and eventually became the commander of the 15th Alabama Infantry Regiment in the spring of 1863. He fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, leading his troops in a series of charges on Little Round Top, where his brother John was killed. Oates believed that if his regiment had been able to take Little Round Top, the Army of Northern Virginia might have won the battle and marched on to take Washington, D.C. Oates later stated that if even a single additional Confederate regiment had joined the assault, the attack could have succeeded, turning the U.S. flank and threatening the entire Army of the Potomac.
Oates stated: