carriage to the Guildhall, where he ceremoniously hung the unsullied Stars and Stripes next to the Union Jack. Upon reaching London, Bates telegrammed his friend, "Cancel wager. I regard this mission as something finer than a matter of money." Artistic depiction In September 2003, a dramatization of Bates's story titled "The Saga of Sergeant Bates: the Most Sensational March in American History", by John Nicholas Schweitzer, was commissioned by John Vorndran and produced for the Edgerton (Wisconsin) bicentennial. References The Triumphal March of Sergeant Bates from Vicksburg to Washington, Intelligence Printing House, Washington, 1868; a copy is available in the Wisconsin Historical Society. Gilbert Bates. Sergeant Bates' march, carrying the stars and stripes unfurled, from Vicksburg to Washington 5 Stupid Bets That Changed the World, by Eddie Rodriguez, for Cracked.com External links 1836 births 1917 deaths People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War People from Livingston County, New York People from Albion, Dane County, Wisconsin Farmers from Wisconsin Military personnel from Wisconsin