Dumouriez was born in Cambrai, on the Scheldt River in northern France, to parents of noble rank. His father, Antoine-François du Périer, served as a commissary of the royal army, and educated his son most carefully and widely. The boy continued his studies in Paris at the "Lycée Louis-le-Grand", and in 1757 began his military career as a volunteer in the campaign of Rossbach, where he served as a cornet in the "Régiment d'Escars". He received a commission for good conduct in action, and served in the later German campaigns of the Seven Years' War with distinction (he received 22 wounds); but at the peace he was retired as a captain, with a small pension and the cross of St Louis.