In May 1862, Candler enlisted as a private in the Confederate 34th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, and was immediately elected a first lieutenant by the members of his company.

Candler fought in some of the Civil War's most brutal battles: Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and Jonesboro.

By war's end, he was serving as a colonel under General Joseph E. Johnston in the Army of Tennessee in North Carolina.

At the end of the war, he quipped that he was more fortunate than many of his comrades -- "I counted myself quite wealthy [with] … one wife, and baby, one eye, and one silver dollar.

The law would set aside federal pension funds "for the relief of the First Georgia State Troops," the regiment organized by Union officer James G. Brown in 1864.

After a first two-year term, Candler was returned to office in 1900, defeating Populist candidate George W. Trayler.

[6] In an incident which culminated with the notorious lynching of Sam Hose in 1899,[7] he berated the "better class" of blacks for not aiding authorities in his apprehension.