Ghigny led the 12th Chasseurs Regiment in the 1812 French invasion of Russia. He was wounded on 8 August in a successful clash between a 6,500-man Franco-Austrian force and the Russians. On 7 September, his regiment participated in the Battle of Borodino as part of Horace Sebastiani's 2nd Light Cavalry Division, part of the II Cavalry Corps. Ghigny was wounded again on 18 October in the Battle of Tarutino (Vinkovo). The regiment's war record also included the Battle of Krasnoi on 14–18 November.