Born in Mont-Louis to the mercenary general Hugues Meunier, he became a cadet in the Lyonnais Regiment on 30 June 1768, aged nine, with the rank of sub-lieutenant. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1774 and captain in 1782, both in the same regiment. He fought in the naval campaigns of 1779 to 1783 under the command of Charles-Gustave de Falkenhayn, including service at the sieges of Mahon and Gibraltar. He was made a chevalier de Saint-Louis for long service in 1791 and lieutenant-colonel of the 34th Line Infantry Regiment on 5 February 1792. He thus served in the Army of the North under generals Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette and Charles-François Dumouriez, commanding the 1st Grenadier Battalion in its reserves from 1 August to 15 September 1792. In that role he converged to guarantee the armée du Grand-Pré's safe retreat to Sainte-Menehould, bringing in all the position's artillery under enemy fire and beat off several Prussian attacks at the entrance to Senuc wood. However, in taking his battalion and a squadron under Chamborand in to support, he was attacked by seven enemy squadrons protected by light artillery and was badly wounded in the arm by a sabre.