Joseph G. Sanders

Joseph G. Sanders was a soldier from the U.S. state of Alabama who served as a commissioned officer in both the Confederate and Union armies during the U.S. Civil War. After initially joining the 31st Georgia Infantry Regiment as a private in 1861, he was elected captain of Company C in that regiment a year later, fighting for the South until he resigned his commission in January 1864 and returned to Alabama, claiming ill health.

Once he had returned home, Sanders switched sides and joined the 1st Florida Cavalry Regiment (Union), where he obtained a provisional commission as a Second Lieutenant in F Company of that regiment. While it was not unprecedented for soldiers of one side to enlist in the army of the other, it was virtually unheard-of for an officer of one force to be commissioned in the other, once the war had begun.

Quickly establishing a reputation as a local "bushwacker," Sanders wreaked havoc with local 'Rebel' civilians—many of whom were his own neighbors—who accused him of stealing their horses, cattle and other possessions in contradiction of the laws of war. Sent on a recruiting mission in early 1865 into the Florida interior by his superior Brigadier General Alexander Asboth, Sanders disobeyed his orders and spent four months in the Forks of the Creek Swamp near Campbellton, Florida, from which he emerged on 14 March to attack the southern Alabama town of Newton. Defeated by local militiamen, Sanders returned to Federal lines where he managed to talk his way out of a court-martial and was permitted to resign his commission, after being characterized by Asboth as "grossly negligent" and "incompetent."

After killing a citizen of Newton who was part of a posse sent to arrest him, Sanders fled to DeKalb County, Georgia, where his victim's father is alleged to have hunted him down and killed him. where he was apparently well thought of by his neighbors. Initially enlisting for twelve months, He was also given a forty-day furlough.

Colonel Clement A. Evans, Sanders' regimental commander during his Confederate service. Sanders' regiment was commanded by then-colonel Clement A. Evans, who would later play a role in Sanders' resignation from Confederate service.

Confederate service

Commissioning and record On 13 May 1862, Sgt. Sanders was elected to be the captain and commander of his company. He participated with his regiment in the Seven Days Battle, the Second Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Antietam, where he was wounded and was subsequently absent sick for 31 days in December 1862. Returning to his unit in January 1863, he accompanied them to Port Royal, Virginia, where he continued to serve until 20 July 1863 (just after the Battle of Gettysburg), when his health allegedly began to fail.

Resignation from Confederate service Upon his return to Alabama, Sanders began work on a gristmill, which was welcomed by his neighbors as their area was described a being "quite destitute of mills." Generals Jubal Early (Sanders' division commander) and Richard S. Ewell (his corps commander) concurred,

Federal service Brig. General Alexander Asboth, commanding U.S. forces in the Pensacola area.

Switching sides No one knows for certain exactly what happened between 29 January and 5 July 1864, He was granted a provisional commission as a Second Lieutenant by Major General Nathaniel P. Banks on 5 July 1864, which he received on 17 July 1864 with orders to report for duty with Company F of the First Florida Cavalry (US) on 23 August, when the regiment was mustered in for Federal service in Florida.

Sanders' Federal records indicate that he was commissioned "from civil life;" —many of whom had been his own friends and neighbors. "He was known to be a brave man," wrote Jesse Carmichael; "and as a result, his incursions into the county, and they were frequent, were very much dreaded." He was given fourteen days to perform this mission, after which he was ordered to return to Pensacola. Sanders had performed this duty the previous September, soon after joining his regiment.

But instead of obeying this directive, Sanders and his men made their way into the Forks of the Creek Swamp near Campbellton, where they hid out and waited for an opportunity to attack the small town of Newton, which was then the county seat of Dale County. Sanders knew that the courthouse there contained records of his former Confederate service (and those of other men in his unit), and he apparently wished to destroy them. —in June 1865, Sanders found himself accused of desertion from the Federal Army, a capital offense. He was equally accused of having "become a terror to the people of west Florida" with his "armed gang of deserters." Unable to disprove his statements, the investigators were left with no choice but to exonerate him.

On 20 July 1865, Joseph Sanders resigned his commission in the U.S. Army, citing concerns for the welfare and safety of his family, who were still living in Dale County. As had happened previously when he resigned his Confederate commission, Sanders' request to leave the service was endorsed by his superiors. Sanders' resignation took effect on 13 September 1865, with the discharge granted "for the good of the service."

Brig. General Asboth, in making his final recommendation for approval, made this statement:

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Death After the war, according to Jessie Carmichael, Joseph Sanders returned to Dale County. Several local citizens, including a man named George Echol, tried to arrest Sanders at his home, "doubtless underrating his courage," Carmichael wrote. Having previously warned them against making any such attempts, Sanders shot and killed Echol, and the would-be posse dispersed. Fleeing to Decatur County, Georgia, Sanders built a mill and seemed to have escaped his enemies, until he was murdered there sometime after the war—allegedly, by Echol's father, another Dale County judge.