Levis was born on August 20, 1719 in Aude, France. He was a French noble and Marshal of France. He began his military service in 1735 in the War of the Polish Succession. He also served in the War of the Austrian Succession. Levis led the French expedition and the siege of the Fort of William Henry in 1757, after Montcalm had already arrived. Levis also arrived at Fort Carillon to help on Montcalm with an expected British attack on July 7th, as a British army was arriving at the fort. He commanded the right flank and won the Battle of Fort Carillon with Montcalm despite being outnumbered by nearly 15,000 troops. As the French were losing battles leading up to the Battle of Quebec, Levis was sent to Quebec to help set up and improve its defenses. He was not there as Quebec fell, however, because after Montcalm fell at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Levis was named commander of the French forces in North America. Instead of giving up his regimental colors to the British after losing the Battle of the Thousand Islands, he burned his regimental colors.
Levis was returned to France by William Pitt under parole. He retired, and ended up dying on November 26, 1787