 Nyora kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Pakutanga kweHondo yeVanhu muna 1861, Gates akanyoresa muConfederate Army, achitanga semutungamiriri muMissouri State Guard pasi pemutungamiriri weGeneral Sterling Price, uye akazokwidziridzwa kuita colonel we1st Missouri Cavalry Regiment. Akatungamira chikwata chake paHondo yePea Ridge, Arkansas munaKurume 1862, panguva yeKukombwa kweKorinde, Mississippi, uye paHondo dzeIuka, Yechipiri Korinde, Champion Hill, Big Black River Bridge uye paKukombwa kweVicksburg, Mississippi. Muna 1864, Gates akapinda muAtlanta Campaign uye muHondo yeAllatoona, Georgia, uye akarasikirwa neruvoko muhondo yeFranklin, Tennessee. Mukati mebasa rake, akakuvadzwa kashanu, akabatwa nemauto eUnion katatu, uye akave nemabhiza mana akapfurwa kubva pasi pake. Musi waApril 9, 1865, musi mumwe chetewo uyo mukuru weConfederate Robert E. Lee akazvipira kuna Union General Ulysses S. Grant, Colonel Gates akapinda mune imwe yehondo dzekupedzisira dzeHondo yeVanhu, Hondo yeFort Blakeley muAlabama. 