Battle of Valmy
As a member of the nobility, Duroc felt in danger under the new Revolutionary government, which led him to abandon the school on July 1792 and become an "emigré" soldier in the royalist Army of Condé. He soon changed his mind however, and after the Battle of Valmy deserted the counter-revolutionary army. Along with two other deserters, Duroc was arrested by the French in Fresnes-en-Woëvre in the aftermath of the battle, and in March 1793 was allowed to return to Châlons to finish his education.