He brought himself to note by moderation and conciliatory spirit, winning a brilliant success near Quimper on 8 July.

On 7 September 1792 he was made lieutenant général and commander of the 13e division militaire, and was put in charge of embarking at Brest the troops intended for Saint-Domingue.

Made lieutenant general on 7 September 1792, the French National Convention put him in command of the Army of the Coasts of Brest.

He then retired to one of his estates, at the Château du Saussay (Essonne), but was recalled after the revolution of 9 thermidor year II (1794) and again made supreme commander of the Army of the West.

He seconded Lazare Hoche to this army around the time of the counter-revolutionary invasion of France in 1795, sending him for some of the reinforcements he needed.

Made a pair de France on the Restoration, Napoleon kept him as such during the Hundred Days but Canclaux refused to support him, though this did not prevent him being struck from the list of peers by the royal ordinance of 24 July 1815.