La Fère
Born in Amiens into a bourgeois family, in 1760 Laclos began studies at the "École royale d'artillerie de La Fère", ancestor of the École Polytechnique. As a young lieutenant he briefly served in a garrison at La Rochelle until the end of the Seven Years' War (1763). Postings to Strasbourg (1765–1769), Grenoble (1769–1775) and Besançon (1775–1776) followed.