Minié served in a number of African campaigns with the Chasseurs, after which he was eventually promoted to captain.

In 1846 he designed the Minié ball, a cylindrical bullet with a conical hollow in the base which expanded when fired.

The French government rewarded Minié with some 20,000 francs and installed him as a member of the staff at the Vincennes military school.

In 1858 he retired from the French Army with the rank of colonel and later served as a military instructor for the khedive of Egypt and as a manager at the Remington Arms Company in the United States.

His rifling technology proved critical to the increase in firearms accuracy seen during the American Civil War.