Ka cika wannan jumla: An haifi Getty a Georgetown, Washington, D.C. An nada shi zuwa Jami'ar Sojojin Amurka a West Point, New York, yana da shekara 16, kuma ya kammala karatun 15 daga cikin masu digiri 42 a cikin Class of 1840. Daga cikin abokan karatunsa akwai janar din yakin basasa na gaba William T. Sherman da George H. Thomas na Sojojin Tarayyar da Richard S. Ewell da Bushrod R. Johnson na Sojojin Tarayyar. An sanya shi a cikin bindigogi a matsayin laftanan na biyu. A lokacin yakin Mexican-American, ya yi yaƙi tare da sojojin Winfield Scott kuma ya sami alhakin alhakin zama kyaftin don ƙarfin hali a Contreras da
Churubusco. (Yar'uwa) Ya yi yaƙi da Indiyawa Seminole a Florida a cikin yaƙe-yaƙe biyu na Seminole na ƙarshe, yana ganin aiki a 1849 <unk> 50 kuma a 1856 <unk> 57.