[2] Ruckle fought in the Maryland Militia during the War of 1812, and took part in the Battle of North Point, during which the Maryland Militia under General John Stricker were able to hold up the British advance long enough to secure the successful defense of Baltimore.

Ruckle served as a Corporal [3] with the Washington Blues, a company of the 5th Maryland Regiment.

He received a formal training in fine art at the Royal Academy in London from 1839 to 1841.

On his return to Maryland he became a successful portrait painter, working out of a studio in Baltimore St.

He also worked as an illustrator, creating a series of scenes of the American West, and also a number of drawings for a volume titled Early History of Methodism in Maryland, published in 1866.