After a spell forming the Paris garrison the 9th Light was ordered to Normandy in the summer of 1803 to prepare for the invasion of England. Towards the end of the year the regiment was transferred by sea to the camps being formed around Boulogne. The 9th Light was based at the camp of Montreuil near Étaples, forming the 1st Brigade of the division of General Dupont in Marshal Ney's VI Corps of the Grand Army. In August 1805 Ney's Corps was ordered to quit the Channel coast and march on Germany to face an Austro-Russian force which was assembling on the Danube. The 9th Light were distinguished at Haslach on 11 October and took part in the pursuit of the Austrian forces attempting to escape from the city of Ulm. Transferring to VII Corps under Marshal Mortier, the 9th Light again distinguished itself at Dürenstein on 11 November 1805. Following this battle, Dupont's Division was considered exhausted and was sent to garrison Vienna. The 9th Light therefore missed the Austerlitz, the culminating battle of the war on 2 December 1805.