The son of a farmer, he served time as a private in the dragoons then (at the start of the French Revolution) moved to farming and raising his large family. He was elected a député for the Pas-de-Calais to the Assemblée législative, then to the National Convention. At the trial of Louis XVI he voted for death without appeal to the people, not for the sentence, and forced his colleague Bollet to vote the same by threats. He took on many missions to the Nord and was absent during the struggle between the Montagnards and Girondists. He was sent to Dunkirk with Lazare Carnot and fought with courage at the Battle of Wattignies, where he charged the enemy at the head of his troops. He was very severe with incompetent generals, notably dismissing Jean Nestor de Chancel and Jean-Baptiste Davaine who were both executed. Denounced by Hébert for allegedly impeding army operations of Jourdan and taking advantage of his position to put his brother at the head of the army, he was rescued by Maximilien Robespierre and had no difficulty proving his innocence. He warmly defended Jean-Baptiste Jourdan before the Committee of Public Safety and probably saved him from the guillotine.