At the beginning of the Jacobite rising of 1745 he volunteered at the age of sixteen to join Charles Edward Stuart in his rebellion.
After soldiers of the city garrison nearly killed him when he demanded entry to the West Gate of Edinburgh, he apparently reconsidered and took no further action to support the rebellion.
On the same day, he was also promoted to captain in the 17th Foot in Ireland, which then embarked to take part in the siege of Louisbourg in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada.
At the siege he was captain of a company of grenadiers and was killed in action during the night of 8–9 July 1758 in a surprise sortie by the French garrison.
He was buried where he died and today a stone to his memory stands between the ruined walls of Louisbourg and the Black Rock.