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 Regiment of Florida Cavalry ( U . S . ) , where he obtained a provisional commission as a Second Lieutenant in F Company of that regiment . While it was not unheard - of 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 . Early life and enlistment in 31st Georgia . Prior to the Civil War , Sanders worked as a millwright in rural Dale County , Alabama , where he was apparently well thought of by his neighbors . Upon the outbreak of the Civil War , he enlisted in Company C of the 31st Georgia Infantry ( known as " Captain Archer Griffith ' s Company of Mitchell Guards " ) on 9 October 1861 , in Glennville , Alabama . Initially enlisting for twelve months , he re - enlisted in his same regiment on 13 April 1862 for " two years , or the war , " by which time he held the rank of Third Sergeant in his unit and was paid a $ 50 bonus for signing on again . He was also given a forty - day furlough . 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 . Accordingly , he requested and obtained a medical furlough to return to his home in Dale County , which was granted on 9 October . 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 . " Accordingly , they drew up a petition to Jefferson Davis , president of the Confederacy , to ask that Sanders be allowed to resign his commission and remain at his home . Insisting that he was " patriotic and loyal , " and that " only his ill health and shattered constitution keeps him away from his command , " the signers earnestly pleaded that Davis approve Sanders ' resignation from military service . Thirty - two citizens of Dale County signed the petition , including the Probate Judge , Daniel Carmichael , whose son Jesse had served as a corporal in the 15th Alabama Infantry , losing a hand at Antietam . Ironically , Jesse Carmichael would later play a pivotal role in Sanders ' defeat when Sanders attacked his own hometown in March 1865 — this time , while wearing the uniform of a Federal officer . Captain Sanders ' resignation was forwarded to his regimental commander , Colonel Evans , who recommended its approval : Federal service . Switching sides . No one knows for certain exactly what happened between 29 January and 5 July 1864 , but for some reason , Joseph Sanders decided to do the unthinkable : not only did he switch sides and join the Federals , but he chose to accept an officer ' s commission , to boot . 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 accordingly presented himself at the U . S . outpost at Barrancas , Florida , where he enrolled for a term of three years . Interestingly enough , Sanders ' Federal records indicate that he was commissioned " from civil life ; " no mention is made anywhere in his U . S . file of his former Confederate service . Local histories insist that prior to obtaining this new commission , Sanders was facing conscription back into the Southern army ; furthermore , say they , he had already become the leader of a local gang of deserter s and Unionists who had begun to terrorize the citizens of lower Alabama . — 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 . " Raid on Newton . Sanders ' service with the 1st Florida Cavalry seems to have gone reasonably well until 25 February 1865 , when he was ordered to take twenty men and proceed to the East Pass at Santa Rosa Island , where he was to recruit new soldiers for his regiment , as well as ' confiscate ' cattle and horses belonging to ' Rebel ' civilians in nearby Walton and Holmes counties . 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 . He and his men accordingly set out for Newton on the evening of 14 March 1865 , but their movement was detected , and the citizens of the town were given advance warning . Jesse Carmichael , the one - handed veteran whose father had attested the petition sent to Jefferson Davis on Sanders ' behalf the previous Autumn , quickly organized the local Home Guard to oppose his one - time neighbor . Though Captain Joseph Breare — the Home Guard commander — attempted to take charge of the town ' s defense , Carmichael defied his orders to gather on the west side of the courthouse square , and instead posted himself and nine friends east of the square , where they ambushed Sanders and his troop as they rode into town . Opening up on them simultaneously in the darkness from in front and behind , the ten Newtonians managed to scare Sanders ' men bad enough that they bolted for the edge of town and rode off into the night . The courthouse at Newton was saved , and though completely unimportant in the larger scheme of things , Carmichael and his men could still claim that they ' d whipped a ' Yankee ' outfit four times their size . Return to Pensacola and resignation . Having been absent without leave for four months by the time he returned to Pensacola — and with only eight men — 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 . " Asked to explain himself , Sanders ingeniusly asserted that sore feet , sickness among his troops , an alleged enemy force of " 700 Rebels " , lack of provinder and rising floodwaters all conspired to keep him from returning to Pensacola at the time specified in his orders . 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 : 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 DeKalb 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 .