In February 1805, at age 12, Pulizzi was enlisted in Catania, Sicily, Italy along with his father, Felice Pulizzi, his uncle Francesco Pulizzi, his little brother, ten-year-old Gaetano and fourteen other Italian musicians, by the American Navy to form a "Band of Music" for the Marine Corps. It had been President Thomas Jefferson who in 1803 suggested to then-Commandant of the Marine Corps William Ward Burrows that Italian musicians be enlisted in the Marine Corps and added to the current Marine Band. Commandant Burrows sent Captain John Hall to southern Italy where American ships were stationed during the war with Tripoli.