Joseph Goodhue recalled that he got a taste for military life when he spent two months in 1775 with an uncle who was a captain in the American Revolution. Only after farming for several years did Goodhue decide at 32 to become a doctor. He trained for the profession by studying with two physicians and attending a series of medical lectures. Goodhue then acted on his long-delayed dream and joined the army, serving as the United States Army Surgeon for Fort Constitution, New Hampshire, for 21 years. His grandson painted this portrait after the elderly Goodhue had retired to Deerfield, Massachusetts.