(1840 - 1864)
Home State: Alabama
Education: University of Alabama, Class of 1862
Command Billet: Commanding Regiment
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 11th Alabama Infantry
Before Sharpsburg
Son of successful doctor and planter Chales Peak Sanders of Clinton in Greene County, AL, he was a student at the University of Alabama from 1858 to 1861, but left school before graduating to enlist. He joined the Confederate Guards, who became Company C of the 11th Alabama Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned their Captain on 11 June 1861 in Greene County, AL. He was wounded at Frazier's Farm, VA on 30 June 1862 and returned to duty on 11 August. He was promoted to Major of the regiment, date not given.
On the Campaign
He commanded the regiment as senior officer present in Maryland and was wounded there.
The rest of the War
He was promoted Colonel on 22 September 1862 (to date from 11 September) and was appointed Brigadier General, PACS on 7 June 1864 (to date from 31 May). He was killed on 21 August 1864 while in command of Wilcox's Brigade in action at the Weldon Railroad near Petersburg, VA. He was only 24 years old.
References & notes
His service from the Alabama Civil War Service Database1 and Warner.2 Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a portrait in the Alabama State Archives.
Birth
04/08/1840; Tuscaloosa, AL
Death
08/21/1864; Petersburg, VA; burial in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, VA
1 State of Alabama, Dept. of Archives & History, Alabama Civil War Service Database, Published 2004, first accessed 01 January 2010, <https://archives.alabama.gov/research/CivilWarService.aspx> [AotW citation 29566]
2 Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray, Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1959, pg. 268 [AotW citation 29567]