During Malet's coup in 1812, Guidal was released from prison, along with General Victor Lahorie, by Claude Francois de Malet, a former general and leading conspirator in the coup. Guidal, with a detachment of National Guards, was to arrest Henri Clarke, the Minister of War, and Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, the Archchancellor. Instead, Guidal accompanied Lahorie and participated in the arrest of the Duke of Rovigo, the French police minister, who was a personal enemy of Guidal.