While recuperating from an injury caused when his horse fell, Ayres considered his military career and realized that artillery officers had a much slower rate of promotion than their colleagues in the infantry.
Mens han kom sig fra en skade efter et fald med sin hest, overvejede Ayres sin militære karriere og erkendte, at artilleriofficerer blev forfremmet meget langsommere end deres kolleger i infanteriet.