OF HAZEN'S CANADIAN REGIMENT ''CONGRESS' OWN''

AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Antoine Paulin was born on the 24th day of April 1734, the son of Antoine Paulin and Marie-Dominique Valois, of the parish of Saint-Paul de Varces, bishopric of Grenoble, in the actual department of Isère, France. His godfather was Pierre Paulin, and his godmother Marguerite Vallière.

Antoine Paulin, the son of late Georges Paulin and Françoise Fourraut, and Dominique Valois, the daughter of Pierre Valois and of Jeanne Froment, were married at Saint-Paul de Varces the 10th day of February 1716. Two other children are known besides Antoine: Pierre, born and baptized July 12, 1717, and Françoise, born and baptized November 9, 1727.

Saint-Paul de Varces is located quite near Grenoble, the cultural city of France, formerly the chief town of Dauphiné, now department of Isere, which is situated between the two rivers, Isere and Drac. It is an ancient city with a colorful history, and the two rivers which flow on either side, unite below, forming a broad and fertile valley. with a panorama of surrounding hills and mountains. On the East, the Savoy Alps with the summit of Mont Blanc rising majestically, greets the eye, while to the West are the mountains of Saint-Nizier. To the North, hills rise directly above the town, creating a lovely valley which at one time was called the Garden of France. It is known for its many fine bridges, churches, old and ancient cathedral, and the old castle of the Dauphiné. It was once part of Burgundy.

The childhood of the Paulin children was plain and simple and their upbringing on the hardy side. The winters were hard and severe, with heavy snows and bitter winds from the mountains. So Antoine Paulin was not exactly unprepared for the hard life ahead of him, in America, the vigorous campaigns and hardships of two wars, and the rigorous winters of Canada and of northern New York State, where he spent his declining years.

Family tradition says that Antoine's elder brother. Pierre Paulin, was serving in the army of France and was possibly called a chasseur alpin, a title for the military of that region in the Alpine Quarters of Dauphiné and of Savoy.

Antoine Paulin (he always signs his name: "At Paulin") was first a private in the regiments of La Reine. In 1755, a squadron of eighteen ships was organized at Brest and Rochefort, France, under Commodore Du Bois de La Motte. Six battalions taken from the regiments of La Reine, Bourgogne, Languedoc, Béarn, and Guyenne, nearly 3,000 soldiers, set sail on May 3. The Marquis de Montcalm was appointed general in chief.

Montcalm had a brilliant military career in Europe, took part in the Bohemian campaign, and when in Italy, was wounded and he returned to France. He was promoted to Brigadier in 1745 and in 1755, as aforesaid, to Major General to command Louis XV's troops in North America. Chevalier de Lévis, afterwards Marshall of France, was named second in command, rank of Brigadier, Chevalier de Bourlamaque, as third in command, as Colonel. And the aide-de-camp was Monsieur de Bougainville.

Six ships of troops were sailing for Canada from Brest, with 1,200 men. Montcalm sailed on the Leopard April 3, 1755. The voyage was rough, and there was a heavy gale during Holy Week. From April 27th to May 4th, there were heavy fogs, it was cold and there were many icebergs. In a letter written May 11 by the General, they were in the St. Lawrence river, below Quebec. and they fished for cod, which was a new type of fish to him and was well liked.

Montcalm and Vaudreuil, the governor of New France, represented two parties which were to divide Canada, one of New France, and one of old France. There were three kind of troops; first, Troops of the Line, (Regulars from France), second were Troupes de la Marine (Colony Regulars), and third were Militia Men, three thousand in all. All the Troops wore White Uniforms with blue, red, yellow or violet and black three cornered hat and gaiters, generally black, from foot to knee. The subaltern officers in French service, numerous, were drawn chiefly from the class of lesser nobles, and were known for enduring gallantry and everyone, regardless of station "deserved high praise."

Since 1603 Troupes de la Marine formed the permanent military establishment of Canada. Attached to the naval department, they served on land and were employed as a police in limits of the colony, or as garrisons of outlying forts, where officers did more fur-trading than military duties. Thus they had become ill-disciplined and inefficient, until the hard hand of Duquesne restored them to order. Originally consisting of 28 independent companies, it increased in 1750 to 30 companies, first of 50, and later of 65 men, each forming a total of 1,950 rank and file. In March 1757, ten more companies were added. They enlisted for the most part in France, but when the term of service expired, and before, in peace time, they were encouraged to become settlers in the colony, as also was the case with their officers, most of them of European birth, many of the nobility. Thus relations of Troupes de la Marine with the colony were close and they were the connecting link between troops of the line and native militia. Besides the colony regulars, there was also company colonial artillery, consisting of 70 men and replaced in 1757 by two companies of 50 men each. All effective male population of Canada from 15 to 60 years of age, was enrolled in the militia and called into service at the will of the Governor. They received arms, clothing, equipment and rations from the King, but no pay, and instead of tents, they made huts of bark and branches. Their fighting qualities were much like the Indians, whom they rivaled in endurance and in the arts of forest war. As bushfighters, they had few equals, fought well behind earthworks and were good at surprise or sudden dash, but were not trained for regular battle on open field. However, every true Canadian boasted himself a match for three Englishmen, through those actually employed in warfare were few. Many were employed in transporting troops and supplies, for which service they received pay.

The old French War was called the most dramatic of The American Wars, because of the skill with which Montcalm used his advantages and the courage with which he was so ably seconded by regulars and militia alike. It was said Canadians were soldiers born, a military training early inuring them to fatigue and danger. The stories of their explorations overflow with tales of courage, patience and privation, coolness in time of peril and obedience to orders of their leaders.

For three years, Montcalm's campaign against the English in New France was successful.

Battles of Oswego and Ontario, 1756, were victorious for the French. That winter, Michel Chartier de Lotbinière, a Canadian engineer, was busy at Carillon (to-day Ticonderoga, N.Y.). The first attack on Fort William Henry, March, 17, 1755, was a failure. The French had started building Carillon in 1755. It commanded Lake Champlain and the water route of Lake George and was in truth The Key to The Continent. It was a remarkable fortress, built of stone.

In July, 1758, at Fort Carillon, Montcalm and his 3,857 soldiers, with his courtly young officers, had gathered, to defend the Fort from attack by the English. It was learned that General Abercrombie with a troop of 15,000 British soldiers were planning to attack. Montcalm knew he was hopelessly outnumbered but he set about to defend the Fort and the waterway to Canada, at all cost.

During the last ten hours before the attack on the Fort, the French accomplished wonders in fortifications. The entire French army including officers stripped to their shirts, fell to the task of constructing breastworks, hewing down thousand of trees. This defense was probably the biggest factor in holding the Fort by the French.

During the battle on this terribly hot day of July 8, 1758, Monsieur de Montcalm took his station in the center, with his coat off, and most of the men were in their shirtsleeves. The General directed the defense, hurrying to each point where there was the greatest danger, exposing himself as much as any of his soldiers. Captain Pouchot of Grenoble's battalion, in which no doubt Antoine Paulin was serving, was on the right under chévalier de Lévis, one of Montcalm's aides-de-camp and a close friend of his.

The British advanced and attacked with renewed troops, between one and five o'clock p.m. They were driven back six times, the French Soldiers shouting as they fought, Vive le Roi! Vive notre Général! The soldiers revered their general. After seven hours of unexampled efforts, the British retreated, with a heavy loss of men.

The French leader, Montcalm, accompanied by his staff of officers, reviewed his troops and thanked the victors in the King's name, for their good conduct during that day of glorious victory, one of the most memorable in the annals of French valor. And that was the battle of Carillon, where 3,857 French soldiers defeated an English Army of 15,000 veterans of European wars.

This brilliant victory of Montcalm's campaign in America, where he sought to defend and hold the French territory for his country, has been told in song and story by the French and the Canadians. It was a tale told many times over by the veteran of our family, Antoine Paulin, to his children and grandchildren and they never tired hearing of his many experiences in this war and in the next in which he was involved, the American Revolution. The very names of the Great Generals, Montcalm, Washington and Lafayette, brought tears to the eyes of more than one grandchild.

The next year, Montcalm was engaged in the defense of Quebec, and it was assumed to be the key, of vital importance, of the whole campaign. His orders from King Louis XV were to defend and hold the colony to the last. with the forces then in it. The secret instructions he received from Marshall Belle-Isle were, in fact, his death warrant. ''However small the space you are able to hold may be, it is indispensable to keep a foothold in America, for if we lose the country entirely. its recovery will be almost impossible. The King counts on your zeal, courage and persistency to accomplish this object. I have answered for you to the King.'' In his reply, Montcalm said, "I shall do everything to save this unhappy colony or die." And he was true to his word.

In September, 1759. Montcalm fought his last battle on the plains of Abraham, in Quebec. It was his last valiant effort to save the colony for France. As he rode down the front of his line of battle, stopping to say a few stirring and encouraging words to each regiment as he passed, he made a lasting impression on his troops. He was in the full uniform of a Lieutenant General of the King of France, wearing his cuirass and mounted upon his black charger. and he seemed to present to his men a living picture of France itself.

The fierce battle of the Plains of Abraham took place on Sept. 13, 1759. Montcalm was wounded three times and died Sept. 14, and three brigadiers and one colonel also shared the fate of their great commander, whom some called "the last great Frenchman of the Western World." General Wolfe, the great English commander, was also killed. And it seems strange that the two great Generals who opposed each other, (yet admired and liked each other, having often exchanged courtesies and imported delicacies, each from his own country), should both expire at the same height in their careers. It is only fitting that they share a common monument which was erected in 1827 and bears this epitaph:

"Wolfe–Montcalm:

Valor gave them the same death

History the same renown

Posterity the same monument."

At his death, Montcalm was buried in the cloistered garden of the Ursulines Convent, at Quebec. Antoine Paulin, along with the rest of the Army mourned their revered leader. Everyone present at the burial, the venerable Bishop Pontbriand, the Priests who sang the Libera, the nuns who joined from behind their screens, his old comrades down to the rank and file, all were sincere mourners of this great and gallant commander. And one of the family traditions was again fulfilled: "War is the tomb of the Montcalms".

When Bishop Pontbriand, the last bishop of the French regime, beheld the Episcopal city fall into the hands of the English he retired to the seminary of the Sulpicians in Montreal, of which order he was a member. His grief for the misfortunes of his flock hastened his death.

One name in our family that was represented in the fall of Quebec, was of Dumas. There was a family living in Quebec at that time, one Etienne Dumas, who had twelve sons. Among the French soldiers who kept up the fight after the fall of their beloved commander were two Captains Dumas. One was from Montcalm's own province in France, and the other, French Canadian, presumably was one of the twelve sons of the Etienne Dumas family. They fought the English as they were accustomed to fight the Indians, from behind trees. But they were too few and the battle was lost.

Quebec in 1759, the conquered city, birthplace and home at this time of Théotiste Cottard, future wife of Antoine Paulin, was a scene of desolation. The Cathedral and churches and all but the distant parts of the city were in ruins.

Among the families evacuated was that of Pierre Cottard, born about 1720, the son of Pancrace and Marguerite Duchesne of St. Malo, Brittany, France, a seaport from which many of these inhabitants had come. Pierre Cottard's first wife, Agnes Bourgeois, had died in Quebec, September 29, 1755 leaving four young daughters. The eldest, Marguerite drowned, while young. Agathe, born in 1745, was married to Jean-Baptiste Normandin at Chambly in 1766. Madeleine, the youngest, born in 1754, followed her young mother on November, 9, 1755. Théotiste, the third daughter, born in 1750, was ten years old of age at the evacuation of her native city in 1760. In 1767, she was married to Antoine Paulin at Chambly, uniting the families of Antoine Paulin, of Grenoble, France, and Pancrace Cottard, of St. Malo, Southern and Northern France, in our revolutionary ancestors.

Pierre Cottard, like all able bodied men of that time, had no doubt served during the old French War, and under Montcalm. He was forty years of age at the time of evacuation from Quebec. He and Antoine Paulin were presumably war comrades. as the next time history mentions them is at Chambly. They were no doubt familiar with this locality and knew its advantages from their former campaigns.

The Richelieu, one hundred and twenty miles long, known also in olden times as the Sorel, Chambly, St. John, and the Iroquois river, is broad, and in many places, deep, and it was the outlet for the whole volume of water of Lake Champlain into the St. Lawrence, at that time. The land is fertile, the country lying between the Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers being considered by some as the best land for agriculture, in Canada.

Théotiste Cottard was ten years old when her family were evacuated from Quebec, in 1760. Her mother had died five years previously and since it is evident, by later proof, that she could not read or write, perhaps she had to help with the work at home and could not attend school. At seventeen, Théotiste was married to Antoine Paulin, who was then thirty years old. This marriage took place on January 12, 1767, at the Parish of Saint-Antoine de Chambly, Quebec, Canada, and they afterward lived in Saint-Denis, near Saint-Antoine de Chambly. In the period of time prior to the American Invasion of Canada in 1775, they became parents of a son, Amable, and three daughters: Marie, Théotiste, and Geneviève.

Two of the guests who witnessed the marriage and signed the wedding certificate as witnesses, were Seurs Amable and Benjamin Durocher. It is possible that the first son of Antoine Paulin and Théotiste Cottard, was named after this Sieur Amable Durocher.

Little or nothing is known of the life of the Paulins in Saint-Denis, Canada. Perhaps, in the future, some later writer will be able to expand on this narrative.

It was ironic that now the Colonies, which a quarter of a century before had given their sons and their means to wrest Canada from France, should now turn to that country for aid in order to deprive England of her American possessions.

General Schuyler was stationed, with his small army, on Ile-aux-Noix, Que. which completely commanded the outlet of Lake Champlain. From here, scouts were sent into Canada, from which they brought back encouraging reports. Colonel Ethen Allen said that the captains of militia were ready to join the Americans whenever they should appear with sufficient force. In Canada, the Captains of Militia were men of great consequence at all times and were granted great social privileges.

Presumably, Antoine Paulin was a Captain of Militia. He was among the first to again take up arms against the English. His commission as Captain of the "Independent Company of Canadian Volunteers'' is dated November 20, 1775, Saint-Denis being given as his residence. In January 1776, his company was annexed to that of Colonel Moses Hazen's regiment of light infantry, while at Quebec.

It was natural for the colonies to expect that Canada, so recently conquered by the English, would readily join in the revolutionary movement. Addresses both in French and in English had been sent to them from Congress, and the advance into Canada found many Congréganistes as the partisans of Congress were called.

There were two regiments raised in Chambly and Saint-Denis, composed mostly of its inhabitants. The First and Second Canadian regiments were named Congress’ Own by their officers, Colonel James Livingston of the First, and Colonel Moses Hazen, the Second. Historian John Gilmary Shea, called them the two Catholic regiments, the only Catholic regiments on either side during the Revolutlon, prior to the entrance of the French Army. They had a Chaplaln, duly commissioned by Congress, the Reverend Francois-Louis Chartier de Lotbinière, of the Order of Recollects, curé de Saint-Laurent. Isle d’Orleans. His commission is dated January 25, 1776, Army Register, Washington, D.C.

Both these regiments continued in active service for the duration of the war, and both obtained a vote of thanks from the American Congress upon its termination. Captain Antoine Paulin served in one of the two regiments

Due to the illness of General Schuyler, General Montgomery took command of the Continentals. The Canadian scouts, having reported the feeble garrison at Fort Chambly, Montgomery ordered Majors Brown and Livingston, with three hundred Canadians and fifty Americans, to attack the fort. The method of attack was planned by the French Canadians. Their homes, being nearby, they knew the fort thoroughly, including its resources, such as they were. Some, like Captain Paulin, were veterans of the previous war.

The attack was successful, and the fort surrendered. But even though General Washington said that the Americans were indebted to the Canadians for every success in Canada, yet in no report nor historical account of the taking of Fort Chambly and St. John, has any mention been made of these French volunteers, to whom the Americans owed these victories. Congress honored with a sword and a promise of promotion, Major Henry Livingston, who was an aide-de-camp of General Montgomery's and was also his brother-in-law, being the younger brother of Mrs. Montgomery.

The taking of Fort Chambly was an important event, for it furnished the means for the siege of Fort St. John, which soon surrendered. Among the very few spoils which Montgomery retained (much to the dissatisfaction of his officers and soldiers, as the English were never so magnanimous toward their enemy), were the colors (Flags) of a British regiment. These were sent to the Continental Congress, the first trophies of the kind which that body received.

December 1, 1775, Quebec was attacked. Colonel James Livingston, with a small party, menaced St. John's Gate. where the rockets were discharged at 5 o'clock A. M. according to orders. The feint of Major Brown, with a detachment of Canadian volunteers (presumably Captain Paulin’s company) was to be on the bastion of Cap Diamant to conceal the march of General Montgomery. It was successful. Montgomery led his division along the St. Lawrence, around Cap Diamant. After passing the first barrier safely, and before reaching the second, a discharge killed General Montgomery and his aide. The rest retreated in a panic. The attack was a failure.

Arnold was now in command, and Washington sent him an order to raise a force of a thousand Canadians in addition to Livingston's corps and put them in charge of Moses Hazen. a wealthy colonist of Canada. Hazen had long resided in the colony and was well known to Washington. His commission is dated January 22, 1776. (Powell's Gen.)

The American army at Quebec suffered extremely as the winter was one of great severity. The English, having received reinforcements, on May 5th, 1776, the disastrous retreat began. The British pursued and burned homes of all the French who were even suspected of being rebels.

May 17th, the weary army arrived at Sorel, a town at the mouth of the Richelieu river. Here they were met by the report of the barbarous massacre at the Cedars by British and Indians under Captain Foster. ''The inhuman treatment of the whole and murder of a part of our people after capitulatlon", wrote Washington, "was certainly a flagrant violation of that faith which ought to be held sacred by all civilized nations."

Among the troops sent in pursuit of Foster was Hazen's regiment, being familiar with the country.

After some skirmishing, General Arnold called a council at Sainte-Anne du Bout de l’Ile, including the captains, to decide upon a plan to surprise the enemy. Colonels de Haas and Hazen opposed the plan, as they were satisfied the Indians were too vigilant to be surprised, and Foster had notified them that if attacked, the prisoners would all be murdered. The council lasted until midnight. The attack was voted down, and it was also decided that all were in favor of evacuating Canada.

About 9 o'clock Saturday night, June 15th 1776, the head of the army reached Chambly, and the army, overwhelmed with fatigue, lay down to rest. The night was dark and rain fell in torrents. Every place along the road that could afford any shelter was crowded with the unfortunate soldiers.

Hazen's regiment returned to Chambly in time to join in the retreat. Captain Paulin had to arrange for his family to leave with the army. Wagons prepared for the women and children were added to the baggage train.

Early Sunday morning June 16, 1776, the army started south on the thirteen mile march to St. John's. They had barely left Chambly when Burgoyne's advance guard entered it. In fact, as the last of the American troops left Chambly, at one end, Burgoyne's troops were entering the other.

Madame Paulin often related the following incident of the retreat. In the hurry and terror of the flight, Amable, the only son, became separated from the family and was left behind. When he was found, he seemed quite happy, perched upon a table and being amused by British soldiers. During the invasion, there had been a parting of the ways among the inhabitants, and these soldiers were, no doubt, some of their neighbors, so Amable was soon returned to his anxious family.

Monday, June 17th, General Sullivan's army barely reached St. John, with the stores, baggage and provisions; not a tool, even had been left behind. He had conducted the calamitous retreat in an admirable manner. Their escape was not less than a victory.

From St. John, the army retreated, by boat to Isle-aux-Noix, Que. That narrow island, one mile long by half a mile wide, contained about 8,000 officers, men and evacuees. After ten days rest, the army was removed to Isle La Motte, by boat. A large detachment marched the twenty-six miles to Pointe Aux-Fer by an Indian path, along the west side of Lake Champlain. There were no roads. From this point, they were taken by boat, to Isle La Motte, the last resting place.

Pointe-Au-Fer is one of the eight frontier posts of which England retained possession for so long after the treaty of 1783, that the U.S. government, to obtain their evacuation finally accepted John Jay's treaty, which Warren's history says ''degraded America". Evacuation took place in 1796.

''Champlain is a lake of heavy seas, which break over the various rocks and ledges in a way to alarm all but experienced navigators", tells Adela Peltier Reed. in the Captain's Memoirs. "Often, in my childhood, during storms. I watched from my father's home, and observed the waves dash upon the rugged Point, which was opposite, sending the spray seemingly to the top of the house just visible through the trees. It was a delightful place for picnics, the air filled with the pungent fragrance of the Balm of Gilead trees, lady slippers growing wild, flowers and grasses covering the ground, and only a short row across to the New York shore, where later stood, and still stands, what once was the substantial brick and granite homestead of John B. Peltier, a grandson of Captain Paulin.''

Upon General Sullivan's arrival at Crown Point, with the army from Canada, he was mortified to find that Congress had appointed General Gates to supersede him. He left the department, and when taking formal leave of his officers, they presented him an address expressive of their admiration for his services. To this was attached the valued names of Hazen, Stark, Antil and St. Clair. This document shows Captain Paulin's regiment at Crown Point, N. Y.

After the ordeal of the retreat from Quebec, it was found expedient to remove this shadow of an army twelve miles south and take a strong position at Fort Ticonderoga (known as Fort Carillon in the old French War), and one of the most noted fortresses in America.

Upon arriving at Fort Ticonderoga, the troops were reorganized, and Congress ordered Hazen's regiment to be recruited. Robert's genealogy of New York contains the names of all the men enlisted to recruit the regiment. Henceforth Hazen's regiment formed a part of the Northern Department of the Continental Army.

In the comfortable barracks of the fort, with provisions good and plentiful, the general health became excellent.

Captain Paulin was in his forty second year (1776), when he came to take part in America's struggle for liberty. Eighteen years had elapsed since the memorable battle of Fort Carillon, but now he was there under a different banner–though against the same enemy–and recollections of the past must have given a peculiar interest to the present time. Captain Paulin was tall and well proportioned. He had blue eyes and light, curly hair, and was considered quite a handsome man, avec un grand air, according to family tradition.

At this period, the monthly pay of a captain was forty dollars. The officers were also allowed rations in proportion to their rank. A captain drew four rations. Each commissioned officer was allowed the privilege of taking a soldier from the ranks for a waiter, he being exempted from any other duty except in time of action.

At no time during the war, was the feeling of sectional animosity stronger than at this time, at Fort Ticonderoga. This feeling gave General Washington much anxiety. Throughout the army, this provincial prejudice was bitter. Surgeon Thacher, who was there at the time, related some amusing instances in his "Military Journal."

Captain Paulin's family, being French and Catholic, with France not yet having come to the assistance of the Colonies, did not fail to have some unpleasant moments. After the war, when relating some of their experiences, Madame Paulin, (who at that time was 25 years of age, a mother of four children), would add: "I was soon able to hold my own with them." She must have been a woman of spirit and great fortitude. In 1779-1780, soldiers and officers from Colonel Hazen's regiment were sent to Canada to spy, for the planned expedition under Marquis de Lafayette to invade Canada, among them were Pierre Cadieux, Captain Clement Gosselin and Lieutenant Amable Boileau.

At the end of War, after disbandment of the Army, the Acts of Congress, relative to service of the Canadians, applied to Colonels Hazen's Livingston's Regiments.

In 1781, on October 5, 6 and 7, Father Ferdinand Farmer, of Philadelphia, was at Fishkill. N.Y. (Headquarters for the Northern Dept. of Continental Army). At that time, he performed many baptisms and blessed many marriages. In the autumn of 1783, six months after her birth in Albany, in April, Francoise Paulin, the youngest daughter of Captain Antoine and Théotiste Paulin, was baptised here by the same Father Farmer.

In September 1783, Colonel Hazen arrived at Pointe-aux-Roches, on one end of Grande-Isle, while the other end, Pointe-au-Fer, was still held by the British.

By November 1, 1776, the Canadian Corps was on its way from Fort Ticonderoga to Albany, as all danger of an attack by the British during the present year was over. It is 110 miles south, on the west bank of the Hudson. Albany was chartered as a city in 1688 by the Irish Catholic Governor Dongan, who had served in the armies of France nearly thirty years, participating in all the great Turenne's campaigns. Albany was made the capital of the state in 1797.

At this time, 1776, it was a primitive Dutch town of about 300 houses chiefly in the Gothic style, the gable end to the street. Some of them were built; with great solidity and no little beauty and all were neatly kept. Each home had the traditional stove, upon which the family sat in the evening.

From this autumn, until the end of the War, Albany was generally the headquarters of the military and civil officers of the Northern Department of the Continental Army. It is of particular interest to our family, because it was the birthplace of Françoise Paulin, the youngest daughter of Captain Paulin who later became Mrs. John B. Peltier. She entered the world on April 28,1783 which she always referred to as the "year of peace", in this quaint old Dutch City.

The following records are taken from Dr. O'Callahan's ''Documentary History of New York:

"The Canadian corps proceeded at once from Albany Headquarters to Fishkill", 98 miles south. November 12, 1776, an order issued to Lieutenant de Rossie, to take that part of the Canadian Corps then in Albany, to Fishkill. Also there is a mention of Captain Paulin of Hazen's regiment in November of 1776 at Fishkill.

Hazen's Regiment seems to have been at Albany and Fishkill oftener between campaigns than at any other location. It was at times the home of Captain Paulin and his family after his return from the Yorktown campaign in 1781, until the summer of 1786. In 1783, they were living in Albany.

The Adjutant General's office of the War Department in Washington has records which show that Antoine Paulin was, during the spring of 1777, in garrison at Albany. Anthony Paulin, volunteer, appears on the muster rolls of Major George Chardin Nicholson's detachment of French Cadets, Livingston's Battalion, Continental troops, Revolutionary war, for the period from April 1, to May 12, 1777, with a record of enlistment, April, 1777. The same record shows that Antoine Paulin served as Captain in an independent company annexed to a regiment of Continental troops, commanded by Colonel Moses Hazen, Revolutionary War. His name appears on the payroll for the period from June, 1778 to July, 1779.

Burgoyne was defeated at Bemis Heights (Saratoga), October 17. 1777, when the British army of 6000 men surrendered. Part of Gates' army was then sent to reinforce Washington, in Pennsylvania. Hazen's regiment, now joined in this long and toilsome march, but the thought of serving under the great Chief of the army must have cheered them on their way, to join in the campaign which ended in winter quarters at Valley Forge.

July 31, 1777, Congress conferred the proud rank of Major-General of the American Army upon the Marquis de la Fayette, not yet twenty years of age, just from France.

On August 1st, Lafayette met Washington, who at the close of the interview invited Lafayette to make his home with him as a member of his official family. Washington gained in Lafayette an ever-faithful friend, devoted to the cause of American Independence.

Hazen's regiment took part in the fall campaign, which included the battles of Germantown and Brandywine, where Lafayette was wounded At Brandywine, Hazen's, Dayton's and Ogden's regiments alone, maintained a resolute position on the left. At the close of the campaign on December 20th, the army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Chester County, 23 miles from Philadelphia.

In ''The Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army of the War of the Revolution'', Captain Antoine Paulin's name is twice listed, once as an officer in the Continental Army, and the second time, among the Pennsylvania officers.

This was the first time that Captain Paulin was in winter quarters with his chief, and he must have seen a lot of Lafayette, whose first winter it was, on this continent. Both were natives of Southern France, Lafayette's ancestral chateau being in Auvergne and Paulin's home in Dauphinée. The Marquis was just learning to speak the English language, while Paulin had been about twenty years resident here and no doubt the latter enjoyed once more conversing in his native tongue, French, and hearing news of France, itself. Tradition is very positive and unanimous in asserting that there was much intimacy and great friendliness between Lafayette and Paulin. The Captain’s four children, born in Canada, were old enough at the time, to remember many incidents of the war, and to recall them later, for the benefit of their families.

The intrigue of Gates to supersede General Washington is the source of precise information in regard to Captain Paulin's regiment, while at Valley Forge. The plan of another invasion of Canada, under the command of Lafayette, to remove a faithful friend from Washington, furnished letters of Importance to us.

January 24. 1778. Gates wrote to Washington at Valley Forge to request that he furnish Colonel Hazen's regiment for the expedition. Orders were immediately issued to Hazen’s regiment to march toward Albany, there to join in another invasion of Canada, but under Lafayette, whose letters later show Hazen's regiment in Albany. They had marched the long distance from Valley Forge, Pa., to Albany. N.Y. during the coldest season, through deep snow.

Hazen's regiment of the Continental Line, sometimes called, from the fighting qualities of its men. "Hazen's Infernals", were, many of them, probably like Captain Paulin, natives of the French Alpine region.

From Albany, February 19, 1773, Lafayette wrote to Washington: ''Generals Schuyler, Lincoln and Arnold say there was no possibility to begin now an expedition into Canada. Colonel Hazen, who has been appointed to a place which interfered with the three mentioned, was the most desirous of going there. The same Hazen confesses we are not strong enough to think of the expedition in this moment. As to the troops, they are disgusted, and (if you except some of Hazen's Canadians) reluctant to the utmost degree to begin a winter incursion in so cold a country."

February 23rd, Lafayette wrote again: "The want of money, the dissatisfaction among the soldiers, the disinclination of everyone (except the Canadians) for this expedition, are as conspicuous as possible." So the expedition ended at Albany, and a letter from Washington of March 20th, recalled Lafayette to headquarters.

Before leaving Albany, he administered the Oath of allegiance to the United Colonies to all the Officers of the Northern Department of the Continental Army, including Canadians, and of course, Captain Paulin. This made them

American citizens.

February 6, 1778, Louis XVI, King of France, then 24 years of age, made a treaty with the new Republic of the United States, which was thus formally recognized as an independent nation, and a defensive treaty of alliance was also signed. Thus a great Catholic power came forward to extend to America her sympathy and aid, and so, allied by treaty with the ancient and powerful French nation, the Americans felt certain of success.

Among the symbols used to decorate the first printed copies of the Treaty of Alliance, is a medallion bearing the Papal tiara. At the center, among other church symbols, is the pierced hand of Christ.

Early in May, 1778, a French fleet from Toulon sailed, bearing to our shores, Conrad-A. Gérard de Rayneval (who had a good knowledge of the English language) as the first Ambassador from the old continent, to the new Republic, and with him began the diplomatic body representing foreign powers in the United States. Monsieur Gérard, alone, constituted the entire diplomatic body at that time.

The next year, 1779, Spain declared war against England to regain Gibraltar, her stolen port, and she too, sent a representative, Senor Murailles, to the American Congress. Thus, the first diplomatic circle at the American seat of government was Catholic, and openly so, for the envoys celebrated great events in their own country or in the United States by the solemn services in the Catholic Church.

French fleets were soon in American waters, and ere long a French army was welcomed on American soil. The Catholic Priests, hitherto seen in the Colonies, had been barely tolerated. Now came Catholic chaplains of foreign embassies, army and navy chaplains, celebrating mass with pomp, on the men-of-war, and in camps and cities.

Rhode Island, with a French fleet in her waters, blotted from her statute books, a law against Catholics.

A notable victory in this year, was that of Colonel George Rogers Clark, in Illinois, due to the patriot Priest of the West, Reverend Pierre Gibault, of Kaskaskia and Vincennes. 'No man", said Judge Law, ''had paid a more sincere tribute to the services rendered by Father Gibault to the American cause than Clark himself." These services were acknowledged by a resolution of the Legislature of Virginia in 1780: ''Next to Clark and Francis Vigo, a Spanish merchant, the United States are indebted more to Reverend Pierre Gibault for the accession of the States comprised in what was the original Northwest Territory than to any other man.''

In the list of inhabitants of Vincennes, Indiana, who took the oath of allegiance to the United States. on July 20, 1778, were François Peltier and André Peltier, relatives of future husband of Francoise Paulin.

The cause of the Americans in France owed part of its success to the great talents of Benjamin Franklin. its agent at Paris. ''The French alliance was worth more to us than Saratoga", said Horace Greeley, ''and it was not Gates' victory, as it is commonly asserted, but Franklin's popularity that gained us the French alliance."

Franklin learned to like the French. He imbibed also, an esteem for the French character and a respect for the French intellect. He admired their universal politeness and found them a most amiable people with whom to live.

The Battle of Monmouth is memorable as the only battle of the Revolution in which the thirteen colonies all are represented. The two Congress' Own regiments took part in it, Hazen's in the right wing of the continentals. The Sunday of June 28, 1778, when the battle was fought, was the hottest of the year, many soldiers dying from the effects of the heat.

In Washington's plans for the winter, the three brigades, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Hazen's Regiment, were to be posted in the vicinity of Danbury, Conn., under General Israel Putnam.

They had an active winter, as the British made marauding expeditions from New York, on the towns along the coast of Long Island sound. Lieutenant Colonel Antill, of Hazen's regiment, was taken prisoner. Released in 1780, he led Hazen's regiment under Lafayette, in the taking of the famous redoubt at Yorktown in 1781.

It was while at this camp, that Putnam took his famous ride down the rocky height. A granite boulder monument bearing a tablet and inscription now marks the locality. In Putnam's farewell order, he signified to his troops his entire approbation of their ''regular and soldier-like conduct.'' The site of this camp, where Captain Paulin passed the winter of 1778-1779, is now marked "Putnam's Memorial Park", in which a monument has been erected to the memory of the men stationed there. Block houses and log cabins in imitation of the ancient camp have also been erected. Of pathetic interest in the park, is the long, double line of stones in heaps, which were used in the fireplaces in the rude huts of the soldiers. (At the Columbia Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, there was among the exhibits of Revolutionary relics, the camp kettle of' Captain Paulin. There it was seen by the Hon. Alexander Bertrand, a great grandson of the veteran).

The winter of 1779-1780, General Washington was in quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, and Captain Paulin was with the troops there also, according to O'Callahan's Revolutionary Records, in which appears this record: 'February 8. 1780. Morristown, New Jersey. Moses White, paymaster in Hazen's regiment. Like Captain Paulin, Moses White was a Captain in Hazen's regiment when it was first organized in Quebec.

This was an unusually severe winter. Washington, in a private letter to a friend, says: We have had the virtue and patience of the army put to the severest, trial. Sometimes it has been five or six days, together, without bread, At other times, as many days without meat, and once or twice, two or three days without either. I had hardly thought it possible at one period that we should be able to keep the army together. As an army, they bore it with heroic patience, and it did not excite a single mutiny".

Thacher's "Military Journal" says: "Much praise is due the officers of every grade, who make all possible exertions to encourage and so the desponding spirits of the soldiers. Under the most trying circumstances, however both officers and soldiers retained their full confidence in the wisdom and goodness of their illustrious Commander-in-Chief, whom they almost worship."

In May, Lafayette arrived at headquarters. Lately arrived from France, his safe return was a matter of joy and congratulations. He brought a commission from the King, appointing General Washington Lieutenant-General of the armies of France and Vice-Admiral of its fleets. This was a wise measure respecting official etiquette. The French officers wore white cockades, and Washington recommended his officers to add white to their black cockades as a symbol of friendship for our French allies. Rochambeau had his officers add black cockades to their white, in honor of the Americans.

Much gaiety accompanied the privations of the Revolution. No sooner was the army in winter quarters, than the ladies began to appear. There was tea drinking from cabin to cabin, dinners of compliment to the visiting foreigners and rallies in barracks, ''where everybody who could sing, sang." Babies were born in camp, children also died there, and were buried there. Our Revolutionary ancestors had trials of this kind, also. They lost twin children tradition says, also others, leavings no records except in memory. The first child spared to them after leaving their home in Canada, was Françoise, born in the year of peace, as she always added, that expression meaning so much to that army family.

During the Summer of 1780, the women and children, families of the officers and privates, were sent to West Point.

The Marquis de Chastellux, chief of Rochambeau's aides, went about the country, gathering the material for his voyages en Amérique. He visited Fishkill and then proceeded to General Washington's camp. From there he was taken, with other officers, by Washington, to visit Lafayette's camp. Lafayette had presented every officer in his corps with a sword and put all his soldiers in uniform at his own expense. Being notified of the intended visit, he had all his troops in order of battle, himself at the head, where, as de Chastellux says: ''he expressed by his air, that he was happier in receiving us there than at his estate in Auvergne." "Lafayette's troops consisted of light infantry; that is to say, the picked corps of the American army, answering to our Chasseurs and of which battalions are formed at the beginning of a campaign."

In September, 1780, came Arnold's treachery. He was the only American of note to betray his country. His accomplice, Major Andre, the spy, met his fate at Tappan, where Captain Paulin's regiment was in camp. A detachment from his company was on duty at the execution.

The winter of 1780-1781, Washington's headquarters were at New Windsor, near West Point on the Hudson, above the Highlands. Hazen's regiment spent the winter in Colonel Hull's detachment, which was posted in the Highlands, in advance of the army at New Windsor, to guard against surprise; a situation requiring the utmost vigilance and precaution.

In the course of the winter, Hull defeated the Tory, Delance, taking about fifty prisoners, besides a number being killed. The enemy then fell in with a covering party consisting of "Hazen's Infernals", from whom they suffered an additional loss of thirty-five men. This success raised the spirits of the troops.

Thacher's "Military Journal'' says: ''Congress have resolved that the regular army of the United States, from and after the first day of January, 1781, shall consist of (giving a list of regiments, etc.) exclusive of Colonel Hazen's regiment." In Hazen's biographical sketch, this appears: "The new army was to consist of fifty regiments of foot, including Hazen's specially reserved."

On returning to France, Lafayette brought Franklin his commission as plenipotentiary. Every true friend of America in Paris rejoiced in the triumph of Franklin over his enemies. Monsieur Gérard was ordered to say to Congress that the King and Ministry were extremely pleased with the exclusive appointment of so firm and solid a patriot as Dr. Franklin.

With a felicity all his own, Franklin obeyed the resolve of Congress to have a sword made in Paris and to present it to Lafayette in the name of the United States. Lafayette and France were extremely gratified by this gift. In 1779, presentation swords were not an article of ordinary manufacture; the compliment derived its value from its rarity.

The last years of the war were one long, agonizing struggle for money. The very facility with which aid had been obtained from France, tended to make the States languid in enforcing taxation. "We must have one of two things", wrote Washington to Franklin, ''peace, or money from France."

Franklin, old and enfeebled by a long illness, again applied to Count Vergennes, this time for a loan of 25,000,000 livres. France, owing to her own great expenses, was unable to lend this large sum, but "to give proof of his friendship for the States, his Majesty had resolved to grant them 6,000,000 livres as a gift.'' The sum total of money obtained from France was 18,000,000 livres. This aid was given when France herself was at war, so that Franklin, without knowing it, helped to bleed the French monarchy to death.

In 1780, Franklin again appealed for aid. The King was powerless to help, as his own finances were in a critical condition, but at this time, the French clergy were holding their quinquennial synod in the Augustinian Monastery in Paris. Archbishops, bishops, and priests from the twenty-one provinces of France were present. The King sent his commissioner to the meeting to ask them for a Free Gift of thirty million livres, for the "common cause'', which they granted 'to obtain the freedom of commerce and safety of the seas." From this, sum. King Louis XVI gave six million livres as don gratuit to his American allies. (The Clergy of France made two subsequent free gifts to the King to aid in defraying the expenses of the war. In 1782, sixteen, and in 1785, eighteen million livres, making in all the immense sum of eighty million contributed by them).

Towards the end of Lafayette's successful campaign in Virginia, which, though he was but twenty-four years of age, he conducted with the ability and judgment of a veteran, he wrote, in a letter to Washington:

''When I went to the Southward, you know I had some private objections but I became sensible of the necessity there was for the detachment to go, and I knew that had I returned, there was nobody that could lead them against their inclination. My entering this state (Virginia) was happily marked by a service to the capital, Richmond, saved from British atrocities. These three battalions of light infantry are the best troops that ever took the field; my confidence in them is unbounded. They are far superior to any British troops, and none will ever venture to meet them in any equal number. What a pity these men are not employed along with The French grenadiers. They would do eternal honor to our arms."

From his easy, affable and engaging manner, Lafayette was particularly endeared to the officers and soldiers under his command. They admired, loved and revered him as their guide and support when in peril, and their warmest friend when in perplexity and trouble. He was loved indiscriminately by the whole army, not only for that amiable disposition and those charming manners, but for his gallantry and ardent attachment to this country. The confidence and affection of the troops were, to him, invaluable possessions.

July sixth, the juncture of Rochambeau and Washington took place at Phillipsburg, New York. Washington reviewed the French troops and Rochambeau, the American troops. The worse equipped the latter were, the greater sympathy and admiration among the French, for their endurance.

"Those brave people", wrote Baron de Closen, aide to Rochambeau. it really pained us to see; almost naked, with mere linen Vests and trousers, most of them without stockings. But, can you believe it looking very healthy and in the best of spirits? Washington is admirable at the head of his army, every member of which considers him as his friend and father.''

General Rochambeau's order to his troops before starting was: 'The severest discipline will be observed'' etc. and in all their long and toilsome marches through the country, they scrupulously respected the rights and the property of the people. Not a barn, henroost or orchard was robbed by them. The ''hereditary enemy", from whom so much had been feared, proved the most generous and considerate of allies.

August 30th, the combined armies. after a swift march from the banks of the Hudson, were in Philadelphia, from there to proceed to join Lafayette at Williamsburg, Pa., near Yorktown.

Among the forces selected to accompany the Commander-in-Chief were the New Jersey and Hazen's regiments. Those two, were already across the Hudson, having been ordered across at Dobb's Ferry, to be in readiness for the swift march.

September 30, 1781, General Washington and General Rochambeau, with the French and American troops, laid the siege of Yorktown by land, while Admiral de Grasse and Comte de Barras laid the siege by water The siege was conducted according to rule. Such rules were familiar to Rochambeau, a trained soldier, this being his fifteenth siege. In his memoirs he says: This justice must be rendered to the Americans: that they behaved in all that part of the siege entrusted to them, in spite of their being unaccustomed to sieges."

The conflict lasted seventeen days. During most of the time. the weather was delightful, it being Indian summer.

The evening of October 14th, Washington decided to attack two redoubts. To prevent jealousy, he ordered the French to attack the left. and the Americans under Lafayette, to attack the right. The taking of these two redoubts, the only incident of the kind during the siege, makes the attack of special interest to the descendants of Captain Paulin, as he had the honor of being in the attacking party of Lafayette's "picked troops" including "the brave army of his Virginia campaign." Hazen's regiment was on the right of the storming party at Yorktown.

Colonel Edward Antill was in command of Hazen's regiment at Yorktown. (Lineage Book)

On the eve of the attack, Baron de Viomesnil, whom Rochambeau had selected to lead the French, showed Lafayette the small confidence he had in the Americans for the proposed attack. Lafayette, a trifle piqued, said to him: "We are young soldiers, it is true, but our tactics are, on such an occasion, to unload our guns and go straight ahead with the bayonet."

He did as he had said. The attack was made, and Colonel Gimat, Lafayette’s aide, was wounded. The rest of the column, under Generals Hazen and Muhlenberg, advanced with perfect discipline and wonderful steadiness. The redoubt was taken. Lafayette, as a lesson in modesty, sent his aide, Lieutenant Barger, through the fire of the batteries to ask Viomesnil, if he needed assistance, but in few minutes, the French were in their redoubt, which, however, was the stronger post. The French loss was severe.

In the French attacking party was Rochambeau's own old regiment of Auvergne sans tache (spotless Auvergne), under him in the ''Seven Years' War'' (Old French War), where, at the second battle of Minden, Lafayette's father was killed, at the age of 25. The old General often called Lafayette, "my son."

October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered and his army of 7000 men marched out between the combined armies, drawn up in two lines of more than a mile in length, the Americans on the right side of the road, with Washington and his aides mounted at the head.

Comte de Rochambeau, his suite and the troops in complete uniform were on the left. Their band of music, of which the timbrel formed a part, produced, while marching to the ground, an enchanting effect.

The Americans, though not all in uniform, yet had a soldierly air, and every countenance beamed with joy.

Vicomte de Noailles said of them, "All are sober and patient, they undergo privations without murmuring; are capable of fatigue and long marches which make of them a veritable light infantry, and besides, they look well, and most of them are handsome."

The spectators from the country were, in point of numbers, probably equal to the military, but silence and order prevailed.

The English, with colors cased, marched out to a large field, where they laid down their arms and were led away prisoners. To carry the colors cased was considered degrading. General Lincoln had to submit to it when obliged to surrender after his brave defense of Charleston. General Washington made the terms of the surrender of Cornwallis ''those of Charleston", and he selected General Lincoln to receive Cornwallis' sword. Cornwallis remained in seclusion and General O'Hara delivered the sword.

October 31st, General Hazen gave a dinner to a number of French army and American army officers, where the chief topic of conversation, and of mutual congratulation, was the late "glorious success."

Lafayette was now to return to Paris to visit his family, also to procure more aid from the French government On the point of leaving Yorktown, he took leave in a general order of his brave corps of infantry, with whom he had undergone so many perils and achieved such glorious results. ''In this moment", he said, "the Major General leaves this place. He wishes once more to express his gratitude to the brave corps of light infantry who, for nine months past, have been the companions of his fortunes. He will never forget that with them alone of regular troops. he had the good fortune to maneuver before an army which, after all its reductions, is still six times superior to the regular force he had at the time.''

This must have been a red-letter day for Captain Paulin, well repaying all the hardships endured.

November 5th, Washington embarked at Yorktown, and let that part of the army which was to go into winter quarters in the north, to Head of Elk. Maryland. This was the dividing point in the military operations between North and South. From there, they moved under General Lincoln toward the Hudson river. Owing to the lateness of the season, the soldiers suffered greatly from cold, wet and fatigue. But they returned in triumph and enjoyed a constant interchange of congratulations on the brilliant military success of the expedition which closed the campaign and ended the war for the Northern Department of the army. Consequently, it also ended the military career of Captain Paulin, whose regiment was returned to Fishkill, and where he was later honorably discharged as a supernumerary officer.

Immediately after reception of the news of the fall of Yorktown, in Philadelphia, Congress appointed a committee which included Charles Carroll, to arrange for a national celebration, on December 13th.

The French Ambassador, Monsieur La Luzerne, invited Congress to be present at a solemn mass celebrated in St. Mary’s church, Philadelphia, November 4th, and the members attended in a body. Abbe Bandel, of the French embassy, was the orator of the day.

"And the banners of England, the surrendered and the conquered flags, were placed upon the altar steps, as a sign and a symbol that God's hand guided, and to Him was Praise and Glory Forever and Ever." (From another oration .)

Seven thousand French soldiers were present. Washington and Lafayette were unable to attend, but on December 13th, they were present at the Mass of Thanksgiving for the victory of Yorktown at the same church. No one knew better than they that the aid of France had been absolutely necessary for the success of the American cause in general and Yorktown in particular.

Among the French people at large, the rebellious colonies were popular, not specially because they wanted to throw off an English yoke, but because they wanted to throw off a yoke, and the desire to assist the colonists in their struggle for independence was as unselfish as it was universal. The exultation with which the French celebrated their victory and ours was but a spark, as it were, to the blaze of glory that illumined all France when the news of Yorktown reached them.

Congratulatory addresses poured in from all quarters to the King and the American minister at the Court of Versailles–Dr. Benjamin Franklin Paris was illuminated for three nights in succession, and there were military and civil processions in every city and town in the kingdom.

The King sent letters to all Archbishops and Bishops for a Te Deum to be sung in all the churches, so not only in the great cathedrals, but also in village churches, was intoned the grand old Catholic Hymn of Thanksgiving.

The soldiers of Congress Own and their families were left, at the close of the war, in great distress. The pay of the soldiers was much in arrears. All of those who had estates in Canada and Nova Scotia and had followed the American Army, suffered confiscation and loss.

"Resolved, by Congress, that the appellations, Congress Own, Washington Life Guards, etc. are improper, and ought not to be kept up, but that all troops should be on the same footing."

Lieutenant Charles M. Leffert, member of the New York Historical Society, "Second Canadian Regiment of Infantry. This regiment of the continental line. under the command of Colonel Moses Hazen, was known as Congress' Own, because it was not attached to any one of the states; throughout the war, it was known as a splendid command."

In January, 1782, by an Act of Congress, supernumerary of officers were considered retired on half pay. In this list, appears the name of Captain Antoine Paulin. His discharge is dated July 1, 1782, though a Washington record, Bureau of Pensions, gives the date as 1783.

On the historic Hudson, they remained until 1786. In 1783, they were in Albany

where, on the twenty-eight of April, the youngest daughter, Francoise came into the world, an American citizen. In the autumn of the same year, they were back in Fishkill, 98 miles from Albany. Here, according to the records of Father Farmer, Francoise, then six months old, was baptized. This missionary's records are the oldest and are still preserved in St. Joseph's church, Philadelphia, Pa.

Hearing of these Catholic at Fishkill, Father Farmer visited them in 1781 during the fall, and again in 1783, when he remained from the last day of October to November fourth.

In an Act dated May 11, 1782, the State of New York granted a tract of land in the Northeast and central parts of Clinton county to the refugees from Canada and Nova Scotia. These lands were divided into 80 and 420 acre lots except 5 000 acres, which were divided into fifteen equal parts, and these were granted to the officers and privates among the refugees.

The names of the Canadian officers and privates were reported by Brigadier General Moses Hazen and Colonel Jeremiah Throop (Captain Paulin's regiment.) Those of Nova Scotia were reported by Colonel James Livingston. Evidently these fifteen officers and privates were all of the Congress' Own regiments who had remained together. (This foregoing record is from the "Gazetteer of New York", 1860, by J. H. French, LL.D..).

It was not until 1786, that all was arranged. The General Government furnished transportation. The summer was one of more than ordinary heat, sickness prevailed, traveling was difficult and laborious, but at last the haven was reached .

Our veteran's land was in Champlain township, about two miles south of the boundary line of Canada, with Lake Champlain on the east, the land having a gentle slope toward the lake.

The Big Chazy (Champlain river) flows in a tortuous course through the town of Champlain (formed in 1788) and discharges its waters into the lake at or near King's Bay, rising in Chazy Lake Mt. Lyon, far up in the Adirondacks. Whenever the wind is from the west, it brings from the range, cold blasts of air that raise a heavy sea off Pointe-au-Fer.

On the shores of this beautiful lake, a permanent home was made by Captain Antoine Paulin, the first since leaving Chambly. Que., in June of 1776, ten eventful years. This land was, of course, practically wilderness, mostly covered with timber, and it must have been a long time before it was cleared enough to build on it. But eventually a home was built and it was from here. that all the Paulins were eventually married. Pierre, the younger son, the only child born in Corbeau, married in Canada, but returned here to live and raise a large family, as was customary in those days.

The social life was agreeable, as all those who drew lots for this tract were of the same faith, and several were officers in Hazen's regiment. They had access to the Clergy in Canada, but, as in that province, they were still under the ban of excommunication for all those who had joined the Americans during the Invasion of Canada, they were long without a priest.

Two memorable events occurred in 1790, their fourth year. First in importance was the establishment of an American Bishopric on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15th, when Rev. John Carroll was consecrated and the United States had its first Bishop.

The next event was the taking of the first census of the United States. In the Town of Champlain is registered Antoine Paulin, wife, two sons, one over sixteen and one under sixteen, and four daughters. As was often the case, the veteran's name was misspelled, as Anthony Poling. His name is variously spelled in official records as Pollin, Paulein, Pauling, Poland, etc. Without a knowledge of French, one would have great difficulty in spelling it. Some of his descendants tried to Americanize the spelling, and on some cemetery stones in Cooperville, N.Y., one finds "Poland", "Paulain'' and "Pauling".

Towards the close of the eighteenth century (1786), John Peltier, his wife, two daughters and four sons, came from Saint-Denis, Canada, to New York State. Their home was near the veteran's (Captain Paulin) in ''Corbeau", now Cooperville. This village, begun where these homes were located, was no doubt laid out by Captain Paulin, as the village was on his property. Tradition says he owned all the land around on both sides of the Big Chazy river, and we know he received nine hundred acres. This practical wilderness had been a long time in materializing. Congress was slow in allotting the plots, so that the veterans more or less camped temporarily, until they received their land. Some of them swapped or sold their land and settled elsewhere. The first houses were mostly log cabins, chinked with mud. Later there were wooden frame houses, after there were saw mills, and brick houses, and granite, later also. Limestone is plentiful there and was later quarried and also used for building. For a long time, the main means of transportation was by water, there being no roads.

Jean-Baptiste Peltier, son of Louis Peltier and Elizabeth Houle, was born October 20, 1783, in Saint-Denis, Que. Canada. He married Francoise Paulin, born April 28, 1783 in Albany, N.Y. Both were born in the year of peace, but under different flags. The marriage ceremony of Jean-Baptiste (John) Peltier and Francoise Paulin was performed at Lacadie, Que., Canada, on July 11 1808. L'Acadie is situated in the northern part of the county of St. John, which borders on Clinton County, N.Y. They were the first couple of the ancestors to

marry American citizens. they built a home near that of their parents, a frame house, the first in the village, where their six children came into the world Emilie, died in infancy, Antoine, Francois, Louis, John B. and Françoise were the others. All married, lived to a ripe old age and left families. John B. Peltier was the father of Adèle and Dorothy Minnie, who were responsible for the Captain's book of Mémoires.

The veteran, our Captain Antoine Paulin, lived seven years after the marriage of his daughter, Francoise. Towards the last, the venerable couple made their home with her and her husband, John Peltier. This probably accounts for the fact that Francoise is the only one of their six children who is mentioned by name in the Revolutionary records at Washington, D.C.

The War of 1812 brought terror of war to the doors of our veteran and his family. The border suffered much, as the struggle in the early part was chiefly on the northern frontier of New York, the troops from both sides passing near the Paulin's home, by land and water.

Only one month before the death of the veteran, a British force from Canada, of over 1400 men embarked on sloops and gun-boats, and made a marauding expedition upon Plattsburgh, a neighboring village. They destroyed a large amount of public and private property and loaded their vessels with practically everything they could lift, furniture, clothing, valuables and even kitchen utensils. On their return, they plundered and burned along the shore, until they arrived at Saxe's Landing. Here something alarmed them and they hurriedly re-embarked and returned to Canada. Corbeau, our veteran's home, was only a mile or two north. and so they were spared.

One of the veteran's grandsons used to tell an incident of this raid, of the war of 1812. The family had collected around their invalid patriarch, and were watching the "old enemy's" progress up the beautiful lake, where so many peaceful years had passed. Perhaps scenes from the past came up in the veteran's mind as he sat helpless and passive; the long fight for independence, the courage of his soldiers, their patient endurance of incredible hardships, extremes of cold and heat as at Valley Forge and Monmouth. Probably, though, the brave old soldier's thoughts dwelt more on the present, for as he looked on the long line of vessels, knowing so well what boded for the unfortunate inhabitants, he wept, and pointing to the enemy, exclaimed: "If I were young again I'd be in this war, too." To be a helpless spectator in another invasion was a severe ordeal for the patriotic old soldier, Captain Antoine Paulin. He did not long survive it.

Antoine Peltier, another grandson, told this incident, relative to the war of 1812, also. He was young at the time, but it made a great impression on him. One day, during the campaign in the neighborhood, while sitting on the porch of his home, a boatload of American soldiers sailed by. On perceiving the well-known form of the officer, they paused and fired a salute. The veteran rose to his feet and returned the salute, and in so doing, stumbled, slipped, and fell across the body of his small grandson. Neither was injured seriously, the incident was indelibly impressed upon the mind of the boy who recalled this incident about seventy years later, when visiting his grandchildren.

We have no details of the closing scene in a life of so much interest to us. This period was probably too painful for the Captain’s children to dwell upon, owing to the devoted love they bore their father. In the midst of this tense and anxious period, Antoine Paulin ''breathed forth his soul to God'', September 7, 1813, in the 77th year of his age, the 47th year of his married life and the 27th years as an American Citizen. in Corbeau, now Cooperville. N.Y.

There being no Catholic cemetery at the time, the veteran's remains were taken to "Grave-Acres", in what was later known as ''Hiram Shute's farm land", for interment. This was the first cemetery there, and this also, was formerly part of his land grant. There, in the valley he loved in life, he rests in the sleep of peace to this day. Perhaps the last sacrifice required for his eternal happiness was that he should not live to know that three days later on the 10th of September, Commodore Perry had a brilliant victory on Lake Erie. The whole country, from President Madison down, went wild with joy; and nearer home, there was the glorious victory of Plattsburgh, where after the victory, and the retreat of the British, the inhabitants were, for a long while, kept alarmed by rumors of another invasion. The signing of the treaty of Ghent, December 24, 1814 was the occasion of much rejoicing.

In 1818, Father Pierre-M. Mignault, of Chambly, Canada, took all the Catholics of French extraction in Northern New York under his charge. Over three decades had passed since the first settlement was formed there in 1786, by the fifteen members of Congress' Own regiments, and it was five years after the veteran was laid in his lonely grave. During all these years, they had no priests and no services, except when a military chaplain or a missionary stopped at Corbeau. "All honor to the memories of those pioneers who preserved the faith of their fathers under such adverse conditions.''

When St. Joseph's parish was founded, Corbeau, having the greater number of inhabitants, became the seat of the parish. As this old mission was the first organized in the northern section. it had always held distinctive place, being identified with the entire Champlain Valley.

On January 17, 1838, the centenary of her husband's birth, Madame Paulin applied for a pension. Her claim was allowed, and the same year she was placed on the pension roll of Champlain, County of Clinton, New York. At the home of her daughter, Francoise, and her husband, John Peltier, she passed the "evening" of her days, surrounded by her children and their families.

A near neighbor was the mother of John Peltier II, whose former home had been in St-Denis, Canada. The two venerable members of this family had the pleasant social habit of taking their afternoon chocolate together, according to a cherished family tradition. What a wealth of reminiscences there must have been to share. During the last years of her life, Madame Paulin took her daily, walk, leaning on her cane. The aged revolutionary widow was always a person of loving interest in the village where she had lived for over half a century. She was of medium height, rather plump, "very nice looking", and always exquisitely neat in her attire, partial to white or light colored gowns. With the good constitution of her Breton ancestry, Madame Paulin was spared until September 20, 1841. Overtaken by the infirmities of age, she sank to rest at the advanced age of ninety-one, after twenty-eight years of widowhood, and a full and eventful life.

DOROTHY C. HUGHES

375 Bay Road, RFD I

Amherst, MA USA 01002

APPENDIX

her

Jas. W. Woods Théotiste X Paulin

Judge Clinton mark

County Courts

County Courts

Alexander Feriol, of Chazy, in the County of Clinton, aforesaid being duly sworn maketh and saith that he entered the American Services at Crown Point and was mustered as a fifer in the Company then commanded by Lieutenant Alexander Feriol, Deponent’s father, in the year Seventeen hundred and Seventy six, 1776, belonging to Colonel Moses Hazen's Regiment. From Crown Point, they went to Albany when in the Fall of the same year, Deponent enlisted. During the war served in the United States service in the same Regiment until the close of the war and received his discharge in June Seventeen hundred and Eighty-three, 1783. That Deponent lived with his father at the Parish of St. Charles in Canada. That Captain Antoine Paulin lived in adjoining Parish of St. Denis, That Deponent was well acquainted with the said Captain Paulin, that he, Captain Paulin came out of Canada the year after Montgomery's death, went to Crown Point and from there to Albany. That he commanded a Company that was attached to or belonged to Colonel Moses Hazen's Regiment through the war until some time in the summer Seventeen hundred and Eighty-two, 1782, said Captain Paulin left Lancaster and returned to West Point where he remained until June 1783. That soon after the close of the war the said Captain Paulin, the Deponent and other Canadian Refugees came to Champlain in the County of Clinton and settled on lands granted them by the State of New York, That Deponent settled on a Lot about three miles and a half from where said Captain Paulin lived, that he continued a neighbor of said Captain Paulin to the time of his death which took place about Twenty-three years ago. That he was always been acquainted with Mrs. Théotiste Paulin, knew her to live with her husband in the Baracks in the winters during the war, that since the death of her husband, she has always remained as a widow and is still a widow and has never been married since the death of her said husband that she has lived in the family of her son-in-law M. Peltier and still resides with him and further saith not

ALEX. FERIOL

Amable Paulin

AMABLE PAULIN

(Signed) A. PAULIN

FRANK FORROGH

Captains

First Canada Regiment

Infantry. A regiment first raised in Canada in consequence of a resolve of Congress 8, January, 1 776

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

ALBANY, NEW YORK 12201

The New York State Library

S. Gilbert Prentiss, State Librarian

and Assistant Commissioner for Libraries

Manuscripts and History Section

Donald C. Anthony

Assistant Librarian

October 9, 1963

Mrs. Ernest L. Hughes, Jr.

Bay Road, RFD # I

Amherst, Mass. 01002

My dear Mrs. Hughes,

In reply to your letter of August 2, 1 have found the following names in the list of Canadian and Nova Scotia Refugees which was published in the Balloting book and other documents relative to Military Bounty Lands in the State of New York:

Page 187 Antoine Paulent, captain 165 & 180 (80 acre lots)

Antoine Paulent, captain 235 & 167 (420 acre lots)

Page 188 Amable Paulent 123 (80 acre lots) and 28 (430 acre lots)

Joseph Lesperance 117 (80 acre lots) 201(420 acre lots)

The list did not contain the name of Pierre Cottard.

GLADYS LADU

Assistant Librarian

THE MOORDFIELD PRESS

HUGH McLELLAN & CHARLES WOODBURY McLELLAN

CHAMPLAIN, N.Y.

July 21, 1966

Mrs. Ernest L. Hughes, Jr.,

375 Bay Road, RFD # I

Amherst, Mass. 01002

Dear Mrs. Hughes:

I have your letter about the Paulint or Poland family As I leave tomorrow for a vacation, I will pass on to you the very little that I have found so far.

ANTOINE POLAND, Capt. in the Revolutionary War.

This is in the so-called Shutes Cemetery in the Town of Champlain. about two miles south and east of the village. It is a modern marble stone (comparatively modern) and is down; it possibly replaced an earlier stone, now gone. This is the only Paulint in that cemetery. There is no other wording on the stone.

In Major Olivier's list of ''Des officiers Canadiens Soldats et Réffugiés Résidant au Lac Champlain Le 11 D`août 1787" Capt. Paulint is listed, with a total of 8 persons in his family, including himself. And in the 1790 Census ''Andrew Poling'' is listed, showing his household to consist of 2 males over 16 years, 1 male under 16 years and 5 females. Amable Paulint is in the January 26 1785 list of C & NS Refugees compiled by Hazen & Livingston. Hazen's list of the next day includes Antoine Paulint Capt. and Amable Paulint Private. And the Balloting Book lists both Antoine and Amable as receiving land in the C & NS Refugee tract. And they are both listed in the 1798 Census of Buildings and Lands.

Sincerely,

CHARLES W. McLELLAN

WAR DEPARTMENT

ADJUTANT GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Honorable Ralph F. Lozier

Representative in Congress

Carrollton, Missouri

My dear Mr. Lozier: re: PAULINT, ANTOINE

I have your letter of May 21, 1927, in which you request to be furnished with the military record of Captain Antoine Paulint as of the 2nd Canadian of Congress' Own, of Hazen's Regiment, Revolutionary War, and any other information the records may disclose.

The name Anthony Paulin, volunteer, appears on a muster-roll of Major George Chardin's Nicholson's detachment of French Cadets, Livingston's Battalion, Continental Troops, Revolutionary War. for the period from April 1, to May 12. 1777, dated in Garrison at Albany, May 12, 1777, with a record of enlistment "April 17--".

The records show that Antoine Paulint served as Captain in an independent company annexed to a regiment of Continental troops commanded by Colonel Moses Hazen, Revolutionary War, His name appears on the payroll for the period from June 1778 to July 1779, which bears no special remarks relative to his service.

Heitman's Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, an unofficial publication entitled to credit, shows as follows:

It is proper to add, however, that the collection of Revolutionary War Records in my office is far from complete. and it is suggested as a possibility that additional information may be obtained from the Commissioner of Pensions. Washington, D.C..

There are no military records in my office, prior to the War of the Revolution.

ROBERT C. DAWS

Major General, the Adjutant General.

PAULIN DESCENDING GENEALOGY

Mrs. Dorothy C. Hughes

Arthur J. Bowser

Wilford L. L'Esperance

Roland J. Auger