He was graduated at West Point in 1822, served as adjutant in the 1st Infantry from 1825 to 1833, and was made captain in 1836. He served in the Florida war, and was brevetted major for gallant conduct at the battle of Okeechobee. He was engaged in frontier duty in the west until the Mexican war. For gallantry at the battle of Monterey, where he was wounded, he received the brevet rank of lieutenant colonel. He was at the siege of Vera Cruz and at Cerro Gordo, and served in 1847 as aide-de-camp to General Patterson.