 A volunteer in 1811 among the riflemen of the young guard, he then was part of a regiment of dragoons that he left only after the dismissal of the Armée de la Loire.In 1823, he made his debut as a playwright at the Théâtre du Gymnase dramatique with "Les Frères de lait", a one-act comédie en vaudeville cowritten with Édouard Nicole.He would afterwards collaborate primarily with Paul Duport, Saintine, Étienne Arago, Charles Dupeuty and Charles Varin.