 In 1863, Candler accepted a commission as captain of the 10th Regiment Georgia Cavalry, State Guards, a battalion organized in August 1863, fighting with the Confederate States Army to serve for six months as local defense in a portion of the State west of the Chattahoochee River as mounted infantry.Candler was a delegate to Georgia's state constitutional convention in 1865, and later the Democratic National Convention in 1872, 1876 and 1896.He served in the Georgia Senate from 1868 until 1872.