Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haife shi a Chateau Vauchaussades, Combrailles, a cikin Auvergne, dangin 'yana 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 cikin shirin da aka shirya a kan Ireland wanda ya kasa saboda toshewar 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.