Saunders served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War; commanding the 46th North Carolina Infantry Regiment. He was wounded at the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of the Wilderness. Saunders served as chief clerk of the North Carolina Senate for several years. In 1879, he was appointed Secretary of State by Gov. Thomas Jordan Jarvis to replace his brother-in-law, Joseph A. Engelhard, who had died in office. Saunders then won election to the office in 1880, 1884 and 1888.