By the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, he was serving on the frigate Uranie, but as he was only an auxiliary officer, he could not maintain his appointment and had to sail to commerce.
He served as first officer on Surcouf's privateer Revenant, under Captain Joseph Potier, and took part in the capture of the Portuguese Conceçáo-de-Santo-Antonio.
On 8 October 1808, Iéna as captured off the Sandheads of Bengal river, by the 44-gun HMS Modeste, under Captain George Elliot,[2] after a 9-hour chase and a 2hour and a half fight.
He took part in the Battle of Grand Port, where he captained the Indiaman Ceylon, previously captured by the French[3] and was twice wounded.
He was then appointed to captain the 80-gun Algésiras, taking part in the Battle of the Tagus where he was the one to advise attempting to force the forts and sail upstream to Lisbon.