 Monet was in Paris for several years and met other young painters, including Édouard Manet and others who would become friends and fellow Impressionists.After drawing a low ballot number in March 1861, Monet was drafted into the First Regiment of African Light Cavalry ("Chasseurs d'Afrique") in Algeria for a seven-year period of military service.His prosperous father could have purchased Monet's exemption from conscription but declined to do so when his son refused to give up painting.