"Looking for a Particular French FIW Officer" Topic

Has anyone seen rosters of French officers in Canada for the FIW? I'm looking in particular for one Felix Victor Caseneuve who shows up in the 2nd Canadian during the AWI as just "Felix Victor." But he's a Chevalier de St Louis, so surely there's French commissioned service at some point?

Ah, the joys of 18th Century record-keeping!

Thanks.

According to the Genealogy of Quebec and French America, he was born in St. Etienne in France in 1748, which makes it unlikely he served in the FIW.

He marries and settles in New York in 1782, so I think he may have served in the French Army and came over with those forces or left the service and "volunteered".

nororginies.qc.ca is the website.

I hope I copied that down correctly for you.

Best of luck in your search.

Eric

And the site said it was his father that was the holder of the Cross of St. Louis. So it may not have been Felix Victor that was a Chevalier.

He married a widowed habitant and moved to Canada at some time after the revolution. Their marriage was common law until 1785 when the union was "rehabilitated" in the parish in Quebec.

Yes, 18th century record keeping is…..charming.

Eric

Ah, the joys of Revolution! Thank you, epturner. Marie-Genieve Boucher was the wife of another officer in the 2nd Canadian, (Lt Francois Martin-Pelland, d. Oct 1780) and she and Caseneuve were married by a New York J.P. about 1782. The "rehabilitation" along with resuming use of his last name and rebaptizing the children seems to have been part of his efforts to square himself with the Quebec authorities.
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Casaneuve's on the books of the 2nd Canadian from at least 1776, so he didn't come over with the French regiments, and so nearly as I can tell none of the ethnic French officers in the Canadian regiments were recruited in France.

Agreed the 1748 birth year would make him impossible as a former FIW officer, but Ancestry.com has a "c. 1740" which would. With 7,000 officers, I have to rely largely on secondary sources, and I hate it when they contradict one another.

Of course, the primary sources do this too.