[3] Cabell served as delegate to the Territorial convention to form a State constitution in 1838.

The investigating committee did not agree that who delivered the ballots should matter, but did decide that the time limit was merely directory and that all the returns should be included.

This resulted in a small victory for Brockenbrough and so Cabell was deemed ineligible and the seat awarded to Brokenbrough.

During his time in Congress he served as chairman of the Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings during the Thirtieth-Congress.

Subsequently, during the American Civil War served in the Confederate Army[1][2] with rank of lieutenant colonel; engaged in the practice of law in New York City 1868–1872, and subsequently in St. Louis, Mo.