As Poznań was then under Prussian control, Strzelecki was a Prussian citizen. He left school without matriculating, then served briefly in the Prussian Army in the 6th Regiment of Thuringischen Uhlans, at the time known as the Polish Regiment because the majority of the staff were Poles. Strzelecki submitted his resignation due to the strict Prussian discipline that he did not approve of. There are some suggestions that he deserted the Regiment but in the official history of the Regiment the name Strzelecki does not appear. Not long after, he became a tutor at a manor of local nobility. He fell in love with his young student, a girl of 15, Aleksandryn (Adyna) Turno, but was rejected as a suitor by her father, Adam Turno. There are stories that Strzelecki attempted unsuccessfully to elope with Adyna, but biographers find this unlikely. Adyna and Strzelecki exchanged letters over 40 years but they never married. Strzelecki, provided with funds by his family, travelled in Austria and Italy. He eventually came under the notice of the Polish Prince Franciszek Sapieha who placed him in charge of his large estate in the Russian-occupied part of Poland. Strzelecki was then about 26 years of age and carried out his duties very successfully. Some years later the prince died, and a dispute arose between his son and heir, Eustace, and Strzelecki. Eustace refused to pay Strzelecki the prince's bequest – a huge sum of money and a considerable estate – accusing him of bad faith and prevarication. After four years the dispute was settled. Strzelecki left Poland about 1829 and stayed some time in France, from where he travelled to Africa.