Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Ya shiga rundunar soji a 1790 a matsayin dan wasa a cikin 11th Dragoons, ya tashi zuwa matsayi na Major a 1798. Ya yi aiki a Flanders daga 1793 zuwa 1795, yana shiga cikin kowane yaƙi a wannan lokacin (Valencienne, Dunkirk da le Cateau
) Ya ce: Bayan ya yi yaƙi da bambanci a Den Helder a Holland a 1799 an daukaka shi Lieutenant-Colonel a 1803. Daga 1811 zuwa 1813 ya shiga cikin Yaƙin Peninsular inda ya sami rauni na sabre a Yaƙin El Bodón amma duk da haka ya shiga cikin yaƙe-yaƙe na Castrejon, Salamanca, Venta del Pozo da Morales.