His father, Lloyd Beall, was wounded at Germantown during the Revolution, served as mayor of Georgetown, D.C., from 1797 to 1799, and in 1814 during the War of 1812 was a Major of Artillery[1] stationed at Fort McHenry near Baltimore.

He was a distant cousin of John Yates Beall, Confederate privateer and spy, executed during the Civil War.

Second Lieut., 1st Infantry, July 1, 1830; Second Lieut., 1st Infantry, July 1, 1830, Served on frontier duty, at Ft. Winnebago, Wisconsin, 1831, and Ft. Armstrong, Illinois, 1831–32; in the Black Hawk War against the Sac Indians, 1832; on frontier duty at Ft. Crawford, Wisconsin, 1832–33; as Adjutant, 1st Infantry, at Regimental Headquarters, March 1, 1833, to June 11, 1836; became First Lieutenant, 2nd Dragoons, June 11, 1836; Captain, 2nd Dragoons, October 19, 1836, to September 13, 1844; at Headquarters of 2nd Dragoons on Regimental Staff duty, 1836–37; in garrison at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, 1837; in the Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, against the Miccosukee Seminole Indians, 1837–38, being engaged in the action of Locha-Hatchee, Florida, Jan. 24, 1838, and the Skirmish of Kenapapa Prairie, June 17, 1838, while transferring Indians to the West during the "Trail of Tears"; in the Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma 1838–39.

Recruiting service, 1839–40; at the Cavalry School at Saumur, France, 1840–1842, to learn the French system of Dragoon exercise; at United States Army Cavalry School, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, 1842; on frontier duty at Fort Jesup, Louisiana, 1842–43; on detached service at Washington, D.C., 1843–44; as Member of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Military Academy, 1843; and again, on frontier duty at Fort Jesup, Louisiana, 1844; Major, Staff and became Paymaster, U.S. Army, Sep. 13, 1844; in the Army Pay Department, 1844–1861, in the Military Occupation of Texas, 1845–1846; in the Mexican–American War, 1846–47; in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1847–48; New Orleans, Louisiana, 1848; Washington, D.C. 1848–49; Albany, New York, 1849–1854; San Antonio, Texas, 1854–1859, and St. Louis, Missouri, 1859–1861.

He worked hard to have the Confederate Marine Corps receive the personnel, supplies and other benefits accorded to other branches of the military.

Thanks, in part, to Beall's efforts, the Confederate Marines, called the "Rebel Leathernecks",[4] gained a reputation for distinguished combat service, on the sea and land.