Thomas Yardley Field was born on March 3, 1825, in Nether Providence Township, Pennsylvania, to Charles and Catharine Field. He grew up and attended school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 

In March 1847, he received a commission as a 2^nd lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He served under General Winfield Scott during the Mexican American War, and he took part in the Battle of Chapultepec. From 1850 until 1853, he served aboard the USS Raritan as part of the United States Pacific Squadron. He was promoted to 1^st lieutenant in October 1854.

 

He served on the USS Constellation in the Mediterranean Squadron from 1854 until 1855, and he spent the next two years at the Marine Barracks in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He rejoined the Pacific Squadron in 1858. He was promoted to captain in May 1861, and he spent most of the Civil War in Philadelphia and Gosport, Virginia. He became a major in 1864. According to one scholar, he was a “member of the Guard of Honor that escorted the funeral train of President Lincoln on its tour through the United States.”

 

He remained in the Marine Corps after the Civil War. He married Margaret Mary Elliott on September 26, 1870, and they had seven children, including Thomas, born around 1874; Elliott, born around 1875; Catharine, born around 1878; Mary, born around 1878; and Margaret, born around 1883. Three children died in infancy, and his wife died in August 1883. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in November 1876 and then to colonel in April 1880. By 1880, he was living in Brooklyn, New York, and he employed at least four servants. He retired on August 17, 1889, and settled in Radnor, Pennsylvania. He died in Philadelphia on February 12, 1905.

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