W.P. Sanders

Federal (USA)

Captain

William Price Sanders

(1833 - 1863)

Home State: Mississippi

Education: US Military Academy, West Point, NY, Class of 1856;Class Rank: 41

Command Billet: Commanding Regiment

Branch of Service: Cavalry

Unit: 6th United States Cavalry

Before Antietam

When he graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point he was brevetted 2nd Lieutenant, First United States Dragoons on 1 July 1856. He was commissioned 2d Lieutenant, 2nd US Dragoons on 27 May 1857 and was at Fort Leavenworth, KS and on the Utah Expedition (1857-61). He was promoted to First Lieutenant on 10 May 1861 and Captain, 3rd US Cavalry 4 days later. He transferred to the 6th US Cavalry on 3 August 1861 in a reorganization.

On the Campaign

He commanded the regiment in Maryland.

The rest of the War

He was appointed Colonel of the 5th Kentucky (Union) Cavalry on 4 March 1863. He was promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers on 18 October 1863 but was mortally wounded on 18 November in action near Knoxville, TN and died in the bridal suite of the Lamar House Hotel (now Bijou Theater) in Knoxville the next day.

References & notes

His service from Heitman1 and Cullum;2 his Cullum #1512. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a CDV in the William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan.

Notes

1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, Vol. 1, pg. 858 [AotW citation 29525]

2 Cullum, George Washington, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy, 2nd Edition, 3 vols., New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1868-79, Vol. II, pg. 668 [AotW citation 29526]

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