Born in Favras near Blois, he belonged to an impoverished family whose nobility dated from the 12th century. At seventeen he was a captain of dragoons, and saw some service in the closing campaign of the Seven Years' War. In 1772 he became a first lieutenant in the Swiss Guards of King Louis XVI's younger brother, the Comte de Provence. Unable to meet the expenses of his rank, which was equivalent to that of a colonel in the army, he retired in 1775.