Kammala wannan jumla: Gerard ya ba da labarin daga ra'ayin wani tsoho wanda ke zaune a ritaya a Paris. Mun gano cewa an haife shi ne a Gascony a farkon shekarun 1780 (yana da shekaru 25 a "Yadda Brigadier ya kama Saragossa"). A cikin "Yadda Birgediya ya hau zuwa Minsk" ya halarci bita na sojojin da ke shirin tashi zuwa Crimea (1854<unk>5), kuma wannan shine kwanan wata na ƙarshe da za a iya ganowa a rayuwarsa, kodayake "The Last Adventure of the Brigadier" yana da saitin da ya gabata, tare da Gerard yana shirin komawa ƙasar Gascon. Ya fara shiga 2nd Hussars <unk> Hussars na Chamberan <unk> a kusa da 1799, yana aiki a matsayin laftanar da kuma karamin kyaftin. Ya fara ganin aikin a
Marengo a Italiya a shekara ta 1800. An canza shi zuwa 3rd Hussars na Conflans a cikin 1807 a matsayin babban kyaftin. Yana magana da ɗan Ingilishi na musamman, bayan ya koya shi daga wani jami'in Brigade na Irish na Sojojin Faransa. A shekara ta 1810 shi ne colonel na 2nd Hussars. Yana aiki a Spain, Portugal, Italiya, Jamus da Rasha. An ba shi lambar yabo ta Grand-Cross na Légion d'honneur daga Napoleon a 1814. Akwai bambance-bambance daban-daban a cikin asusun rayuwarsa, ba a kalla cewa a cikin kowane labarin sai dai na ƙarshe yana da aure.