Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haife shi a Nouart a cikin sashen Ardennes, Faransa, ɗan wani jami'in sojan doki, Chanzy ya yi karatu a makarantar sojan ruwa a Brest, amma ya shiga aikin bindiga. Daga baya ya halarci makarantar soja ta Saint Cyr, kuma an ba shi izini a cikin "Zouaves" a cikin 1843. Ya shiga cikin fadace-fadace da yawa a Algeria, kuma an daukaka shi zuwa laftanan a 1848, kuma zuwa kyaftin a 1851. Ya zama "chef de bataillon" a shekara ta 1856, kuma ya yi aiki a Yaƙin Italiya na Biyu na 'Yancin kai, yana kasancewa a yaƙe-yaƙe na
Magenta da kuma Solferino. Ya shiga cikin yakin Syria na 1860-61 a matsayin laftanan-kolonel, kuma a matsayin colonel ya umurci rundunar 45th a Roma a 1864. Ya koma Aljeriya a matsayin janar janar, ya taimaka wajen murkushe tawayen Larabawa, kuma ya umurci sassan Bel Abbes da Tlemçen a 1868.