 He would hold this position until September 1827, when he resigned to accept a commission in the Illinois Militia from Governor Edward Coles as a Colonel in the 19th Regiment Illinois Militia.He was eventually appointed an aide-de-camp to Governor John Reynolds in December 1831 and, shortly before trouble began to appear on the frontier, he was required to go with Reynolds to Rock Island early the following year.During the first weeks of June 1832, he was one of hundreds of volunteers to report at Dixon's Ferry as General Henry Atkinson was organizing a second campaign against Black Hawk.