Salme's friendship with the traitor Jean-Charles Pichegru caused him to be unemployed for over a year. He served in Italy in 1798 and led the army advance guard at the Trebbia in 1799 where he was wounded and captured by the Austrians. In 1802 he went on the Saint-Domingue expedition to Haiti but was sent home early, possibly for having a sexual liaison with Pauline Bonaparte. Then his wife tried to poison him and he was retired from the army. In 1809 he briefly led a second-line outfit in the Walcheren Campaign. The following year he was given a brigade and served in Catalonia. He was killed in action during the Siege of Tarragona in 1811. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 38.