He and Moros made their way back to France whereupon seeing the chaos and destruction there caused by the Reign of Terror (1793–94, just after the French Revolution of 14 July 1789) had decided to leave their homeland. After hearing of a population of French speaking settlers (possibly Royalist (Chouannerie) or those loyal to King Louis XVI) in America from someone headed to Philadelphia, he and Moros decided to sail to America. There is some evidence that Jacques and Moros were shipwrecked during that voyage and that resulted in the two losing all their belongings. It has been noted that when Jacques arrived in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri sometime in the late 1790s, he was penniless.