 Before the war he briefly ran a Saloon near Laura Kern's Theater.He enlisted in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War, as a "sutler", selling wares including food from the back of a wagon or tent, and traveling with the army as it went from field to field.Sadly, he contacted rheumatism during the winter of 1862 while sutlering at Hooker's camp, and returned to Washington a cripple.