By Nathan D. The son of a judge, Guillaume-Marie-Anne Brune had been sent by his family to study law in Paris before the Revolution.
While there, he worked as a clerk of a prosecutor and acquired a printing press which he used to publish a satirical news publication. As his mentor Danton continued to rise through the revolutionary ranks, Brune's star rose too. In October of he was promoted to chef de brigade and then later he was sent to the staff of General Dumouriez in the Army of the North.
Brune's next assignment was as chief of staff of an army formed to fight rebels near Caen in July of Next he served at Hondschoote before being sent to the Gironde to suppress more rebels as commander at Bordeaux. At the end of , Brune was appointed to the military committee of the Convention. When Brune's friend and mentor Danton was targeted by Robespierre, Brune dodged the executions of the Reign of Terror by allying himself with Paul Barras and staying out of the way.
Brune took part in defending the government and served under General Bonaparte during the fighting. In January of Director Barras tasked Brune with a secret mission to invade Switzerland to nominally liberate the Swiss but in reality plunder the nation. Brune took command at Lausanne on February 5th and quickly advanced. A little over a month later, he was named commander-in-chief of the Army of Italy and he finally traveled there in April, having finished plundering Switzerland while fillings his own pockets notably.
Brune did not hesitate to plunder in Italy either, and in October Barras then decided to send a significantly wealthier Brune to Holland. Given Brune's reputation from Switzerland and Italy, the Dutch were not eager to work closely with him. But when the British landed an army in Holland in August of , Brune took command of the combined forces of the French and Batavian Republics to fight them off.
