He participated in the Mexican–American War, in the 1851 revolution against Santa Anna, in the Reform War (against the conservatives), and (on the nationalist side) against Emperor Maximilian of Mexico.
Han deltog i den Mexicansk-amerikanske krig, i revolutionen mod Santa Anna i 1851, i Guerra de Tres Años (Treårskrigen) mod de konservative og på den nationalistiske side mod Maximilian 1. af Mexico.