Konopka was the son of Anna, a distant relative of the Princes of Conde, and Franciszek Konopka, a major in Lithuanian army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1792 he was a Second Lieutenant in the Ukrainska Brygada Kawalerii Narodowej ("National Ukrainian Cavalry Brigade") and took part in the Polish–Russian War of 1792 (in Poland known as "War in Defence of the Constitution"). He fought in the Battle of Zieleńce and was decorated. During the Kościuszko Uprising he fought as a lieutenant at Battle of Maciejowice, was wounded, and decorated again. After the failure of the insurrection he emigrated to France and volunteered for the French army.