Either Carl Ekberg or David Perrin told me that our Antoine was eligible for the Order of St. Louis... especially because we know he was a Captain at the time of his death.... and that we should request this. So..... I don't know who handles this.... maybe France.... but it is something we should keep in mind. Poor Antoine... probably died on some battlefield.... probably lying in an unmarked grave. We should honor him by doing this for him. R. WmFMcFarland@aol.com wrote: >Another note on the chevalier thing. Some of these discussions on the >internet regarding heraldry etc. include honorific titles, where kings and others >started orders, of which there are many. > >King Louis XIV founded the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis in 1693 to >honor military officers. This became the highest honor a military man could >receive from France after that time and was highly sought after by military >officers. There are three grades in this order, Grand Cross, Commander, and >Chevalier. Many (all?) of the military officers who are called "Le Chevalier" in the >1700's in Canada and Louisiana have been awarded this honor. Apparently, >those awarded this honor had more than 10 years service and had made major >contributions of some sort. > >Two officers who I know the background for are Henri Montault de Montberaud >(various spellings), who commanded Ft. Toulouse in the 1750's and became Le >Chevalier ca. 1769 after he was back in France (from Winston DeVille's book on >the French troops in La.) and Jean-Philippe Goujon de Grondel, who commanded the >Swiss Regiment of soldiers in La. and later became a general back in France >(article in LeRaconteru, 1989). I believe an annual pension was given along >with the honor. > >This title of chevalier would, of course, be different from being a >knight/chevalier in earlier centuries. > >Frank McFarland > > >============================== >Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the >last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > > > >