Sturgeon was born about 1781, and was admitted to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich as a cadet in May 1795. He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 1 January 1796. He became lieutenant on 21 August 1797. He served in Pulteney's Ferrol Expedition in 1800, and in the Egyptian Expedition, and was wounded in the Battle of Alexandria on 13 March 1801.