Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Shiga makarantar soja ta musamman ta Saint-Cyr a 1829, ya bar ta a matsayin mai ba da shawara a 1831. An ba shi mukamin Laftanar a 1834, sa'an nan kuma ya zama kyaftin, ya yi aiki a cikin 5th Dragoon Regiment. Wani shugaban d'escadron a lokacin juyin juya halin 1848, yana kusa da Janar Négrier lokacin da aka ji rauni na ƙarshe. Daga nan sai ya shiga cikin kewaye da Roma a 1849 a matsayin babban jami'in soja na rukuni na biyu na rundunar sojojin Faransa a Bahar Rum. An ba shi mukamin Laftanar-Colonel, an haɗa shi da sashen Constantine a matsayin babban shugaban kasa a 1852. Ya tashi zuwa colonel a watan Janairun 1855, ya yi yaƙi a cikin Yakin Crimea a matsayin babban jami'in soja na 2 kuma daga baya na 1 na II Corps. Chef d'état-major ga Janar Mac Mahon a 1855 a Algeria, sannan aka ba shi wannan matsayi a sashin Paris shekaru biyu bayan haka. Ya zama janar a 1858 ya yi yaƙi a yaƙe-yaƙe na Turbigo, Magenta
da kuma Solferino.