He married Minna von Behrendt. He served as executive officer of SMS Vineta, out of Wilhelmshaven. Valois commanded the cruiser corvette SMS Victoria (France, 1863) in February 1881 on a cruise to Liberia to protest a native attack on the shipwrecked crew of a German merchant ship. He exacted a monetary fine from the Liberian government and shelled the village of the natives involved. As opposed to the battle fleet favored by Alfred von Tirpitz, he especially favored a cruiser fleet which would go after Great Britain's merchant in case of war.