Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haife shi a Chateau Vauchaussades, Combrailles, a cikin Auvergne, dangin's suna da tarihin aikin soja. A shekara ta 1751 ya shiga rundunar sojojin Faransa, yana aiki a cikin Yakin Shekaru Bakwai. Ya bambanta kansa a cikin
Siege na Fort St. Philip, kuma an sanya shi a cikin kariya ta bakin teku har zuwa 1759, lokacin da ya shiga wani shirin da aka shirya a kan Ireland wanda ya kasa saboda ƙuntatawa na Birtaniya na tashar jiragen ruwa na Faransa. An tura shi zuwa West Indies a 1763, yana aiki a matsayin shugaban bindiga a Martinique. A cikin 1774 an ba shi lambar yabo ta Saint Louis don hidimarsa.