In the spring of 1792 he received the rank of marechal de camp in command of the cavalry in the army of the north; but the influence of the extremists becoming predominant he took indefinite leave of absence, and settled at Auteuil, where, with Condorcet and Cabanis, he devoted himself to scientific studies.
Santerre was appointed marechal de camp on the 23rd of October 1792, and subsequently general of division.
Thanks to the friendly intervention of the marechal du camp, baron Duteil, Bonaparte once more gained leave of absence for three months and reached Corsica in September 1791.
At the outbreak of the Revolution the chief of the family was Henri Louis Auguste, marquis de La Rochejacquelein, marechal de camp in the royal army, who had three sons named after himself - Henri, Louis and Auguste.
It was his business, if not exactly his duty, to preside at the formal election of his successor, the marechal de Matignon; but there was a severe pestilence in Bordeaux, and Montaigne writes to the jurats of that town, in one of the few undoubtedly authentic letters which we possess, to the effect that he will leave them to judge whether his presence at the election is so necessary as to make it worth his while to expose himself to the danger of going into the town in its then condition, "which is specially dangerous for men coming from a good air, as he does."