Hi Cyndi,

Couldn't find a "Wiley Cates" listed for Alabama. However, I did find a "W. Cates" serving as a Private in Company D, 21st Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment. There is also a "W. L. Cates" listed as a Private in Forrest's Alabama Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (this was a regiment which, if I recall correctly, was commanded by a brother of Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a self-taught cavalry genius).

Again, records are hard to follow. One is dependent upon the penmanship of the original officers, the Confederate War Department clerks, and thence the Federal War Department clerks, and finally whomever transcribed the records into a database. The penmanship of the time left a lot to be desired and causes a lot of transcription errors.

I didn't see a "Wiley Cates" serving in any other State, so I imagine these are your two options, but again, the records are incomplete and there's nothing to show in the National Archives of the Alabama Reserve Corps or their State Militia. Those records would have been maintained in Alabama and may not have survived the war.