Through the kindness of his captain, he picked up some education, and, after service in the Channel Islands and the Cape, sailed for India, where, having risen to be a sergeant in the grenadier company, he served against the Mahrattas under Lord Lake.
He seems to have been highly popular in his regiment for his gallantry in the field; but during 1822, while quartered at Calcutta, he was inveigled into a series of bets on horse races which proved highly disastrous.