 He spent his early years in Bruges (his father was military governor there) where he frequented the library of the "Maatschappij der Letterkunde", a Dutch benevolent society, promoting popular education, where he proved a promising autodidact.He started his military career at age 14 in 1825 as a volunteer in the Sixth Division Infantry in Bruges.In 1829 he was commissioned as a second-lieutenant of infantry.