He became lieutenant in the regiment in 1801 and captain in 1805. He served with the regiment in Hanover in 1805–06 and was a deputy assistant adjutant-general under Lord Cathcart at Copenhagen in 1807. He then served on the staff of Sir John Hope in Sweden in 1808, in Spain in 1808–09, including the actions at Lugo and Corunna, and in the ill-fated Walcheren campaign. He was aide-de-camp to General Graham at Barossa, and brought home the despatches and the ‘eagle’ captured by the 87th Regiment of Foot. He was afterwards with Graham at Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz.