He was killed in the Battle of Globe Tavern along the Weldon Railroad during the Siege of Petersburg, Virginia on August 21, 1864.

[3] He began studies at the University of Alabama in 1858 but left school to enlist in the Confederate States Army as a private at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861.

[2][3] John C. C. Sanders was elected captain of Company E of the 11th Regiment Alabama Volunteer Infantry on June 11, 1861.

[2] Sanders was formally promoted to colonel after the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg, Maryland), September 17, 1862, where his face was wounded by stones thrown up by an exploding shell.

[3][6] He performed with competence and bravery during the Battle of Cold Harbor and the early engagements of the Siege of Petersburg.