Placed in the prytanée at Saint-Cyr, he entered the army as a private in the 1st Cuirassier Regiment in 1803 and entering the military school at Fontainebleau on 23 October 1804, leaving it as a sous-lieutenant in the 15th Regiment of the Line. He served in that regiment in the Austerlitz, Prussian and Polish campaigns, being mentioned in despatches at Austerlitz and wounded at Jena (1806). Promoted to lieutenant on 30 November 1806 he received the cross of the Légion d'honneur at Eylau (1807).