An nada shi daga Pennsylvania zuwa Jami'ar Sojojin Amurka a West Point, ya kammala karatunsa a 1822, 26th a cikin aji na 40. Ayyukansa sun kai shi Florida, musamman yankin Pensacola. Ya ji daɗin lokacinsa a Pensacola, yana rubutawa sau da yawa game da rayuwarsa a can a matsayin Laftanar na biyu. An daukaka shi zuwa 1st Lieutenant bayan shekaru bakwai kuma, a 1846, zuwa matsayin kyaftin. An sanya shi zuwa 1st US Infantry sa'an nan kuma 4th US Infantry kafin ya yi aiki a matsayin mai taimakawa ga Janar Edmund P. Gaines a farkon yakin Seminole na biyu. Ya bambanta kansa a lokacin yakin Mexican-American a karkashin Zachary Taylor, yana karɓar tallafin tallafi ga manyan mutane don ƙarfin hali a
Palo Alto da kuma ga Laftanar Kanar Resaca de la Palma. Manyan mutanen Filadalfiya da suka nuna godiya sun ba shi takobi sa'ad da ya koma birnin a shekara ta 1847. A ranar 30 ga Agusta, 1851, yana da shekaru 49, ya auri Elizabeth McMurtrie. Auren na da farin ciki, kuma sun haifi aƙalla 'ya'ya maza biyu da mace ɗaya. Ya yi ritaya tare da shekaru 31 na aiki a matsayin colonel da kuma Babban Jami'in Rundunar Sojoji a 1853.