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Farnum was educated in [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania]]. In his youth, Farnum was an Overland express rider.<ref name="Eicher231">Eicher, John H., and [[David J. Eicher]], ''Civil War High Commands''. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-8047-3641-3}}. p. 231.</ref>
Farnum entered the army as sergeant-major of the 1st Pennsylvania Infantry in 1846, and served through the Mexican War. Subsequently he joined the [[Narciso López|Lopez]] expedition to [[Cuba]] which left [[New Orleans]] in 1850, and also took an active part in [[William Walker (filibuster)|Walker]]'s [[Nicaragua]]n expeditions. Still later he was captain of the slave yacht [[The Wanderer (slave ship)|''Wanderer'']], and was indicted at [[Savannah, Georgia]], for carrying on illegal [[slave trade]]. He is said to have regretted this episode in his life.
At the beginning of the Civil War, he became major in the [[70th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment]], which was raised and commanded by [[Daniel Sickles|General Sickles]]. He distinguished himself for gallantry in all the engagements in which Sickles's brigade took part, and was promoted colonel of his regiment. At the [[Battle of Williamsburg]], 5 May 1862, he was severely wounded, but recovered in time to take part in the battles of [[Battle of Fredericksburg|Fredericksburg]], [[Battle of Chancellorsville|New Chancellorsville]], and [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Calonius |first=Erik |title=The Wanderer: the last American slave ship and the conspiracy that set its sails |date=2006 |publisher=Saint Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-34347-7 |location=New York, N.Y |pages=242 |language=en-us}}</ref> (Colonel Farnum's name appears in the [[Graffiti House]] in [[Brandy Station, Virginia]] from this period.) He was then compelled by his wounds to abandon active service, and accepted the colonelcy of the 11th regiment of the veteran reserve corps, which he retained until the close of the war.
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