He was the second surviving child of the nobleman, Nils Fredrik von Schoultz, governor of Vaasa, a mid-ranking Swedish government official, and his wife Johanna Henrika Gripenberg.

His younger sister was Johanna von Schoultz, who became comparatively famous in her own right as a talented opera singer described as being a “perfect soprano.” She was the first opera singer from Finland to travel internationally around Europe, and famed Italian composers like Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini all composed pieces with her voice in mind.

[1] Following the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and in alignment with the expectations of young gentlemen in the early 19th-century, von Schoultz enlisted in the military, and passed his artillery officer's examination in May 1829.

Little is known about von Schoultz's time in Poland, but by his account he partook in the defence of Warsaw and was there when the city fell to the Imperial Russian forces on September 8, 1831, from which he was captured, but he managed to escape captivity soon afterward.

By the springtime of 1832, however, and again by some way or another, von Schoultz managed to leave the ranks of the French Foreign Legion, and he made his way to Florence, where he happily reunited with his mother and sister.

[3] On November 11, 1838, Birge, von Schoultz, and roughly 400 members of the Hunters' Lodges left the shores of New York and proceeded down the St. Lawrence River to put their attack plan into motion.

Von Schoultz was placed in charge of a schooner called the Charlotte of Toronto, the only original vessel that would reach the Upper Canadian shore.

On November 12, von Schoultz and his crew of about one hundred and fifty men landed three kilometres east of Prescott and worked to construct fortifications in the hamlet of Newport.

[8] He won over many of the people he came in contact with during the course of the trial, and some of them even attempted to get Sir George Arthur, the lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada, to spare his life.