Spear enlisted in the army in 1833, and was assigned twice to the 2nd Dragoons and once to the 2nd Cavalry in which he was promoted from private to first sergeant each time.

[1] On January 13, 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Spear for appointment to the grade of Brevet brigadier general of volunteers for his actions as a brigade commander at the Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road, to rank from April 13, 1865, and the United States Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.

[3] After the Civil War, Spear became a Major-general in the Irish Republican Army within the Fenian Movement in America and lead the eastern wing of the Fenian Army from St Albans, Vermont into Canada during June 6–7, 1866.

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