 Later he became a Baptist.He moved to Iowa in 1854, where he was a farmer.He joined the Union Army in 1862 as captain of Company C, 25th Regiment of the Iowa Infantry, and fought at the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, the Battle of Fort Hindman, the Third Battle of Chattanooga, the Battle of Ringgold Gap, the Atlanta Campaign, and Sherman's March to the Sea.