Leonard Tillman Sadler

Texas Rangers — Austin, TX

Accident

End of Watch September 16, 1918

Age 34

Tour of Duty 3 mo

The Vigil Panel 34 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 121

Incident

L. T. Sadler enlisted in the Texas Rangers on May 27, 1918. Two of his brothers and a cousin served with him in Company G in South Texas and another brother served in 1917. The Texas-Mexico border was rife with bandits, smugglers and German spies during World War I. Several rangers and customs inspectors were killed in South Texas near Brownsville during the short service of Sadler. Sadler and two other rangers arrested a man they reported as an alleged smuggler, and they claimed they released the man. When his body was discovered months later, they were charged with murder, but the grand jury no billed them. Shortly thereafter, Sadler and four other rangers, including his brothers and cousin, were involved in a shoot out on the Rio Grande River in which 4-5 bandits were reported to have been killed.

On September 15, Sadler and a detachment of rangers were assigned to search for smugglers along the Devil's River in Val Verde County. One ranger was cleaning his weapons when Sadler approached him from behind. The ranger fired his six gun over his shoulder and accidentally wounded Sadler. He was transported to the hospital in Del Rio where he died the next day. Sadler was married. He was reportedly buried in Devine, Frio County and in San Antonio, Bexar County. His place of burial has not been located.

The Texas Ranger archives reported Sadler as killed accidentally while on duty and the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum reports his death as accidental in the line of duty.

Rest in peace and know that no passage of time will ever erase your service and sacrifice.

Detective Cpl/3 Steven Rizzo Delaware State Police (Retired) September 16th, 2020

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-TX-6B6B1C05
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Private Sadler served with the Texas Rangers.
Thank you for your service to the Austin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Private Sadler.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Texas Rangers

Type Other

Location Austin, TX

Platform Identity tr.travis.tx.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch September 16, 1918

Tour of Duty 3 mo

Age 34

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Private Leonard Tillman Sadler is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,756 officers honored here.

In TX, 657 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27.1% of this state's fallen. That is 27.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Texas Rangers, 11 of 122 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 9% of this agency's fallen.

Texas Rangers

of 122 officers

9% Accident

TX — Statewide

657

of 2,421 officers

27.1% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,756 officers

0% Accident