 When the Civil War began, Holmes answered President Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers and joined the Massachusetts infantry at the age of 20. He was wounded several times, but rose to the rank of colonel. At the end of the war, he enrolled in Harvard Law School and embarked on a legal career. In 1881, a summary of lectures he had given was published as The Common Law. Holmes advocated for new ways to view the law, balancing legal precedent with realities of the emerging modern era.