In 1846 Lane joined the 1st Regiment of Texas Mounted Rifle Volunteers as a first lieutenant to fight in the Mexican–American War.

After the Mexican–American War, Lane wandered about doing various things in Arizona, California, and Peru before opening a mercantile business in Marshall, Texas, in 1858.

Lane was severely wounded in the Battle of Mansfield in 1864, where Confederates forces rebuffed a push to capture either or both Shreveport, Louisiana, or Marshall, Texas.

Before the war ended, Lane was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1865, being confirmed on the last day the Confederate Congress met.

[2] After the Civil War Lane returned to Marshall where he helped to establish the Texas Veterans Association.