 He attended medical school and moved west to serve in the U.S. Army at various forts and outposts.He entered into another contract with the U. S. Army in January 1875 and was made a first lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry, posted in Fort Abraham Lincoln in the Dakota Territory.During the Great Sioux War, he accompanied Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's column towards the Little Bighorn River, where he was killed in action.