He was made a page in the grande Écurie du roi in 1671, before joining the musketeers in 1673. He then moved to the Gardes Françaises. He fought his first campaigns in Franche-Comté, distinguishing himself in the 1674 attack on Besançon. He also took part in the sieges of Condé, Bouchain (Nord), Valenciennes, Saint-Omer, Ypres, Kehl, and Strasbourg.