During the Spanish–American War, he served with the Fourth Regiment, New Jersey Volunteer Infantry.
After the war, Charles Sulzer moved to Alaska in 1902 and engaged in mining.
Congress
He was a member of the Alaska Territorial Senate in 1914. He presented his credentials as a Democratic delegate-elect to the Sixty-fifth Congress and served from March 4, 1917, to January 7, 1919, when he was succeeded by James Wickersham, who had contested his election. He later presented his credentials as a Delegate-elect to the Sixty-sixth Congress and served from March 4, 1919, until his death on April 15, 1919, before the convening of Congress.