Sanderson, Winslow F.

Born: 1811-XX-XX New York

Died: 1853-09-16 Galveston, Texas

Flourished: Columbus, Ohio

Sanderson moved to Columbus, Ohio, sometime in the early 1830s. In July 1833, he married Martha Nelson. He took an interest in local and state military affairs, and in February 1839, he became captain of the Columbus Guard, an independent military unit. In September 1841, Sanderson won election as brigadier general of the Second Brigade, Seventh Division, of the Ohio State Militia. When the Mexican War commenced in April 1846, he became captain of a volunteer company of mounted rifleman recruited from Columbus and other cities in Ohio. In May, Sanderson received a commission into the U.S. Army as a captain in the newly created Mounted Riflemen under the command of Persifor F. Smith. Sanderson and his company participated in General Winfield Scott's expedition from Veracruz to Mexico City. He led his company at the battles of Contreras and Chapultepec, and, for his courage and gallantry, he was breveted major on August 20, 1847. In January 1848, he received promotion to major. After the war, he remained in the Army, serving in various posts in the American West. He died of yellow fever.

Gravestone, Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, OH; Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, 29 July 1833, Cuyahoga County, OH (Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com, 2016); Cadmus M. Wilcox, History of the Mexican War (Washington, DC: Church News Publishing, 1892), 621; Wm. Hugh Robarts, Mexican War Veterans: A Complete Roster of the Regular and Volunteer Troops in the War Between the United States and Mexico, From 1846 to 1848 (Washington, DC: Brentano's, 1887), 13; Alfred E. Lee, History of the City of Columbus, Capital of Ohio (New York and Chicago: Munsell, 1892), 2:77; E. O. Randall, ed., Ohio Centennial Anniversary Celebration at Chillicothe, May 20-21, 1903 (Columbus, OH: Fred J. Heer, 1903), 173; Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1903), 1:859; Returns From U.S. Military Posts, 1800-1916, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, RG 94, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; H.R. Doc. No. 283, 36th Cong., 1st Sess. (1860); Guide to the Sanderson, Maj. Winslow F. Papers, 1829-1880 MS 245, Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas, https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ricewrc/00378/rice-00378.html.