To George Washington from Colonel Moses Hazen, 8 January 1781
From Colonel Moses Hazen
Fish Kill [N.Y.] Jany 8th 1781
sir
I think it my Duty to acquaint You of Sundry matters respecting the Corps I have the Honor to Command and beg the favor of Your Excellencys Directions therein. Capt. Poulints Independant Company Consisting of himself one Lieut. one Ensig⟨n⟩ and [ ] men were annex’d to my Regimt Early in the Year 1778. have Continued with and done duty in it Ever since. it has been returnd and mustered as an Independant Company and Consequently not included in the Establishment of the Regiment. as the officers and men of the Company are from Canada they wish to be continued with the Regiment on such a footing as your Excellency might adopt.1
Captain Robishaux Lieut. Monte with seventeen Men of the Corps lately Commanded by Col. Livingston have within this few days Joind my Regiment—they also wish to Continue with the Regiment and render any Little Service to the Public in their Power. these Gentlemen entered into this Cause from Good Motives their Sacrafices have been great and they may Yet be Usefull if their Services should be wanted in their own Country2—Capt. McConnel of my Regiment now on Parole at Philada was wounded at the battle of Brandywine on the 11th Septr 1777 Left on the Field made a Prisoner and there gave a Verbal Parole which has not been Entered as I am inform’d on ⟨t⟩he British Commissary of Prisoners Books & has been pass’d by in his tour of Exchange—Captain Popham is With Brigr Genl Clinton with whom he has serv’d as Brigade Major and Aid du Camp Since the opening of the Campaign 1778.
Captain Taylor had Genl Hands leave of Absence in March last for the Recovery of his Health he went to Virginia and is not since Return’d3—Capt. Hughes is Absent from the Regiment since Novr last it is Said he is on your Excellencys Furlough in Consequence of a Recommendation from Major Torrey who then Commanded the Regimt—Lieut. Lewis is also absent from the Regiment and it is Said he has resign’d.4
I would request your Excellency will please inform me how those Gentlemen are to be mustered. Viz. Capt. Poulint & his Officers. Capt. Robishaux & Lt Monté would wish to remain with the Regimt even as Volunteers or Otherwise as your Excellency may direct.
as the Regiment is an exception to the General Establishment of the Army I would be happy for your Excellencys Oppinion and approbation in a Uniform white with Green facings was the first fixd upon in Canada and the Field Officers would wish to Continue it if your Excellency approves of that or will point out Any Other I will endeavour to procure on my own Credit a Suit of Uniform Cloaths for such of the Officers of the Regiment has have it not in their Power to provide themselves.5 I have the Honor to be Your Excellencys most Obedient and very Hbbe Servt
Moses Hazen
LS, DLC:GW.
1. Capt. Antoine Paulin evidently left Hazen’s 2d Canadian Regiment in October 1781. A memorandum of “Person’s who commanded the Companies in Hazens Regiments” states that Paulin was “omitted” from the regimental rolls “after Octo. 31. 1781 & his men on the 1. of Jan. 1782 were transferred to different Companies” (DNA: RG 93, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, Hazen’s Regiment).
2. Col. James Livingston’s 1st Canadian Regiment had been discontinued in the new establishment of the Continental army that became effective on 1 Jan. 1781. Lt. Francis Monty left the army in January 1781.
James Robichaux (Robicheaux, Robicheux), of New York, joined the 1st Canadian Regiment as a captain in December 1776. He retired from the army in January 1781.
3. Reuben Taylor (1757–1824), of Virginia, joined the 2d Canadian Regiment as a lieutenant in November 1776 and became a captain in February 1778. He left the army in October 1781. Taylor died in Kentucky.
4. For Capt. John Hughes’s furlough and Lt. Joseph Lewis’s discharge, see GW to William Heath, 17 Nov. 1780.
5. No reply from GW to Hazen has been found.