Rising to colonel in January 1855, he fought in the Crimean War as chef d'état-major of the 2nd and then the 1st division of II Corps.

Chef d'état-major to general Mac Mahon in 1855 in Algeria, he was then given the same post in the Paris division two years later.

Chef d'état-major of the Imperial Guard in 1860, he was promoted to général de division in 1866 before becoming emperor's aide-de-camp in 1868.

He was held as a prisoner of war on the Iges peninsula (wishing to remain with his men) then in Germany at Koblenz then Aix-la-Chapelle.

He took command of III Corps from 1873 to 1879, when he retired, dying ten years later and being buried at the cemetery in his birthplace.