He served in various posts in Baton Rouge, Minnesota, and Michigan and later served in the Second Seminole War, at one time as military governor of the western Florida military district, after being promoted to brevet major and then major.
He served in Arkansas as a major and later lieutenant colonel of the First Infantry Regiment and was called by General Zachary Taylor to go to the Texas-Mexican border in June 1846 and commanded the First Brigade, made up of four companies of the First Infantry.