 On 1 April 1793, Hofmann switched roles to become the president of the provisional administration.When the republic ended after the Siege of Mainz, Hofmann was able to leave the city with the retreating French troops and went into exile in Paris, where he headed a society of exiled Mainz republicans, the and was working towards an exchange of prisoners to free the German revolutionaries captured by the authorities.After a short service in the military, where he commanded an equestrian regiment that fought against insurgent royalists in the Vendée and was wounded several times, he was sent to England on espionage missions.