 His first posting as an officer was to command a gunboat at Antwerp, part of the "National Flotilla" of coastal ships, collecting in various Channel ports for Napoleon's projected invasion of England.By 1803 he was promoted to ensign and embarked aboard the frigate "Sémillante" under the command of Captain Léonard-Bernard Motard.They would spend six years in the Indian Ocean, based on Réunion, preying on British shipping bound to and from India.