He was promoted to enseigne de vaisseau (ensign) on 10 November 1830 for his conduct during the Invasion of Algiers in 1830.

He was defeated at the landing in Huahine by the forces of Queen Teriitaria II, but succeeded in the capture of Fort Fautaua in November 1846.

In July 1849 he was commander of the naval subdivision of Oceania and French Commissioner in the Society Islands.

[6] In 1857 Bonard was commander of the naval stations of the western coasts of America and Oceania.

[2] He introduced several plants to Polynesia including Rio banana (Musa sapientum), cassava and new varieties of mango, avocado and guava.

On 5 June 1862 he negotiated the Treaty of Saigon with the representative of the Vietnamese emperor Tự Đức under which the French were granted rule over the provinces of Gia Định, Định Tường and Bien Hoa and the island of Poulo Condore (Côn Đảo).

[7] Bonard gave a Colonel Coffyn the task of developing a plan for a city of 500,000 people, a visionary concept since at the time Saigon had population of about 40,000 Chinese, 10,000 Vietnamese and 600 Europeans.

The missionaries saw the mandarins, with their Confucian and Buddhist culture, as obstacles to the spread of Christianity.

[2] After restoring peace and obtaining the Treaty of Huế, Bonard returned to France on 30 April 1863.

[7] Bonard died on 31 March 1867 in Vanves, Hauts de Seine, and is buried in the Amiens cemetery.