Beckley was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, nominated for West Point by William Henry Harrison and President James Monroe; he entered on September 25, 1819,[2] and graduated on July 1, 1823, ninth in a graduating class of 35.

[4] He was in the army for 13 years, serving the entire time as an artillery officer in Pennsylvania, Florida, Virginia, and New York.

In 1834–1835, after lengthy legal disputes, Beckley received the title to 56,679 acres (22,937 ha) his father had owned in western Virginia.

[7] His home, named Wildwood, was built in 1835–1836, expanded in 1874, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

[7] Beckley served in several public service roles, often in overlapping terms: School Commissioner, 1837–1850; Deputy Clerk of Superior and County Courts, 1838–1850; first postmaster of city of Beckley, 1839; Commissioner of Forfeited and Delinquent Lands, 1839–1850; Master Commissioner in Chancery, 1840–1850 for Fayette County, West Virginia (then part of Virginia); Delegate to the 1844 Whig National Convention, where he voted for Henry Clay for President;[6][c] Clerk of Circuit Court of Law and Chancery, 1850–1852, Superintendent of Common Schools, 1850–1873, for Raleigh County; Director and Superintendent of construction of Giles, Fayette and Kanawha Turnpike, 1840–1849; State Director, 1851–1860; President, 1854–1860, of Logan, Raleigh, and Monroe Turnpike; and School Treasurer of Raleigh County.

Beckley returned to military service as a brigadier general in the Virginia Militia from 1849 to 1861; serving out of loyalty to his state even though he strongly opposed its secession from the Union.

[5][10] Beckley's second wife was Jane B. Rapp, with whom he had three more children: Stuart Heber (b. August 21, 1851), Daniel Webster (b. October 28, 1853), and Maria Elizabeth (b. July 1, 1857).

This region was largely pro-Union and his militia was not highly motivated, so Wise condemned Beckley's unit in August 1861.

Returning to Union-occupied Beckley, he surrendered to the Union officer in charge, Rutherford B. Hayes, on March 16–17, 1862.