Field graduated from Yale College in 1841. After his graduation he began the study of law in New Haven and New York. From March, 1843, till November, 1845, he spent in European and Asiatic travel, and then resumed his studies in N. Y., where he was admitted to the bar in Jan., 1848, and was for several years in partnership with his cousin, Hon. John Jay. His health having failed, he visited Europe again in the spring of 1848, and a third time in the autumn of 1854, when he was solicited to fill the position of Secretary of the U. S. Legation at Paris, which he accepted. He was also subsequently for a short time attached to the U.S. Mission in Spain. In 1855, Gov. Horatio Seymour having appointed him a Commissioner for the State of New York, he was made President of the Board of U. S. Commissioners to the French Universal Exposition; and at the Exposition's close was designated by the late Emperor Napoleon III with the cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor, for his eminent services.