Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haife shi a cikin Princess Anne County, Virginia zuwa Anthony Walke da Susan Hatfield Carmichael Walke, kuma sunansa Henry Augustus Walke, ya zaɓi kada ya yi amfani da sunansa na tsakiya ko na farko. An nada shi a ranar 1 ga Fabrairu, 1827, kuma ya yi aiki a Gosport Navy Yard, Virginia. Ya sami horo na farko na jirgin ruwa a Gosport kuma, daga Yuli 1827 zuwa Nuwamba 1828, ya yi tafiya a cikin Caribbean a cikin jirgin ruwa a cikin yakin da aka yi wa 'yan fashi a wannan yanki. Ya yi tafiya zuwa Bahar Rum tsakanin Agusta 1829 da Nuwamba 1831. Walke ya karbi umarninsa a matsayin mai wucewa a ranar 12 ga Yuli, 1833, kuma, bayan watanni da yawa na izinin aikin teku, ya koma aiki a bakin teku a Philadelphia Naval Shipyard a ranar 7 ga Maris, 1834. Tsakanin Janairu 1836 da Yuni 1839, ya yi tafiya a cikin Pacific Squadron a cikin jirgin ruwa mai linzami 74 na layin, musamman a gefen gabar yammacin Kudancin Amurka yana kare kasuwancin Amurka a lokacin tashin hankali da ke haifar da tashin hankali tsakanin Amurka da Mexico da Amurka.
yaki tsakanin Peru da Chile.