QUEBEC-L Archives

From: "John H.Merz" <>
Subject: [QUEBEC] GREIN, perhaps a Hesse-Kassel Lossberg soldier?
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 12:21:31 -0500
References: <000c01c1c2bd$c1dbcea0$53f3e440@default>

Hello everyone;

Our contributor Normand G. Goudreau likes to throw me some real
curve balls, and this query of his is no exception.
But then again I do like a challenge, but sometimes all my research
proves to be inconclusive, here is such a case with PAUL GREIN.

Let's make this a bit more interesting and give that challenge some
historical flavour: (From Robert Oakley Slagle's Dissertation:
"The Von Lossberg Regiment - a chronicle" from page 172:

On Oct 17, 1781 the Alt von Lossberg Regiment was assigned to
winter quarters in the towns of St. Thomas, St. Francois, St. Pierre,
and Berthier on the south shore of the river opposite Orleans.
On the 29th the regiment crossed the St. Lawrence in flatboats to
Point Levy and reached St. Michel for the night. Bad weather on the
following day kept the Lossbergers from marching any further than
St. Valier. Finally, on the 31st, the staff, the artillery detachment, and the
Scheffer Company moved into St. Thomas, the Loos Company occupied
St. Francois and Berthier, and the Altenbockum Company took quarters
in St. Pierre.
The winter of 1781-1782 was another cold one for the officers and men
of the von Lossberg Regiment. The ice in the St.Lawrence River froze so
solidly that a road was built on it from the city of Quebec to Point Levy.
In March, General von Loos and several officers from his brigade and the
von Lossberg Regiment set out on a tour of inspection of the defensive
preparations of all German units in Canada. They travelled up the north bank
of the St.Lawrence via St. Anne to Trois Rivieres where they conferred with
Generals Clark and Riedesel. From here the entire group crossed the
St.Lawrence and proceeded to Sorel, where they inspected the Brunswick
Dragoon Regiment and the Barner Battalion which made up the town's
garrison. On the 9th, Generals Riedesel and von Loos travelled to St. Ours
to inspect the British 44th Regiment. General Haldimand arrived in Sorel on
the 10th and personally inspected the fortifications in the area. =====

I ran across this section in the book while searching for this elusive
Paul Grein, because in Hetrina II, which covers Hesse-Kassel Regt.v.Lossberg,
I ran across one soldier
GREIN, Johann Henrich, born between 1734-37, which means he was about
45 to 48 years old in 1782, born in Wasenberg/Hessen, belonged to 5.Comp.,
but the interesting fact was that according to the files he was arrested in
July 1782 on account of desertion.

This date co-incides with the date of the wedding of Paul Grein.
I just wonder if Johann Henrich Grein was a relative who attented the
wedding in Montreal without permission, or was he the 'Paul' who married?
Can one find out who the witnesses were at that marriage?
Virginia DeMarce names one witness - Georg Wilhelm ROLL, he is not
listed anywhere else in Virginia's book, but I found him with the
Hanau Free Corps in New York, being transferred in April 1782 to somewhere.
So this is all rather confusing, but perhaps these tidbits help to
solve this riddle.
Cheers,
John Merz http://www.cgocable.net/~hessian
..........................................................................................
..
From: "Normand G. Goudreau" <>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 9:14 AM

On a rainy morning here's my post for today!

Origin: St-Laurent (Breslau)
Sankt Lorenz (in German)
In Schlesien ( Polish: Slask)

Name: GREIN, Paul
Son of deceased Christophe and deceased Maria Nushis
Married on 15-07-1782 In: Montréal
According to contract #14( Mézière)
To: Marie-Josèphe Ardilos dit St-Jean
Note: Paul was 56 when he married

Regards,
Norm

This thread:

• [QUEBEC] GREIN, perhaps a Hesse-Kassel Lossberg soldier? by "John H.Merz" <>