His participation as an amputee in the fighting near Brussels Park during the Dutch attack on Brussels in September 1830 was widely praised, and he gained the nickname Wooden Leg (French: Jambe de Bois).

[1] He worked as a weaver before enlisting in the French Grande Armée and served as an artilleryman.

After the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution on 25 August 1830, Charlier was among the 250 volunteers from Liège who left on 3 September to defend Brussels against an attack by a Dutch Army under Prince Frederick.

He participated in fighting during the so-called September Days (Journées de séptembre) from 23 to 26 September 1830 near the Brussels Park at the Montagne de la cour where he commanded the two cannons available to the revolutionaries.

His role in the fighting was widely commemorated by subsequent writers and he became emblematic of the revolutionaries who had participated in the September Days after Belgian independence in 1831.