Ka kammala wannan jumla: Vandamme ya shiga soja a shekara ta 1786 kuma da sauri ya hau kan mukamai. A lokacin barkewar yaƙe-yaƙe na juyin juya halin Faransa a 1793 ya kasance Brigadier Janar. Ya yi aiki a wannan matsayi a cikin kamfen na 1794 a cikin Low Countries, 1795 a kan Rhine da 1796 a Jamus. An gurfanar da shi a gaban kotun soji saboda fashi kuma an dakatar da shi. An sake dawo da shi, ya yi yaƙi a Yaƙin farko na Stockach a ranar 25 ga Maris, 1799, amma rashin jituwa da Janar Jean Moreau ya sa aka tura shi aikin aiki a Holland. A cikin
Yaƙin Austerlitz a 1805 ya jagoranci rukunin sa, tare da Janar St. Hilaire, a matsayin wani ɓangare na Marshal Soult's IV Corps a cikin cajin da ya kama Pratzen Heights. Saboda jagorancinsa an ba shi lambar yabo ta Grand Eagle na Legion of Honor.