Born into a military family (his father was Constant le Marchand de Lignery, an officer of the French colonial military) in Montreal, Lignery enrolled as a cadet in the troupes de la marine at 14, and first saw service in 1728 during the Fox Wars.

He distinguished himself in the defeat of Braddock in 1755, in which his company held the French center while Indians and Canadien militia were rallied early in the battle.

[1] Given military command of the entire Ohio Country in 1756, he used Fort Duquesne as a base from which to harass British colonial positions in Virginia and Pennsylvania.

[1] Lignery married Marie-Thérèse, daughter of Daniel Migeon de La Gauchetièr, on 27 January 1738.

His sons also served in the French military, and Marie-Thérèse moved to France and received a widow's pension.