At 15, he dropped out of school to fight for the Union Army in the American Civil War and went on to spend a further three years serving in Italy with the volunteer unit "Devils of the Good Lord".
[2] In 1873, Brisebois was chosen by John A. Macdonald, because of his military experience (and Conservative politics), to be one of nine commanding officers with the new NWMP.
As his division's insubordination reached near-mutiny proportions, he clashed more and more with his direct superior James Farquharson Macleod.
Brisebois and his wife Adelle (whom he had legally married sometime after resigning from the NWMP) led an active social life, founding a snowshoe club and holding Roman Catholic church services in their home.
During the North-West Rebellion of 1885, he helped mobilize militia units and later joined the 65th Battalion, Mount Royal Rifles.