EDWARD ELLIOT – 96th INFANTRYSEVEN MONTHS IN THE ARMY - On January 1, 1862, Edward Elliot enlisted in the hamlet of the Frontier in the Town of Clinton on the Canadian Border. He was recruited by Captain David Lockerby for his Company A of the 96th Infantry to be one of his 70 privates. The regiment organized in Plattsburgh and left for Washington on March 11th.The 96th, known as McComb’s Plattsburgh Regiment, was a 3-year regiment and by the end of March was ordered to the Virginia Peninsula to participate in the Siege of Yorktown. They stayed at Yorktown for month and then made their way up the Peninsula. On May 31st they had a bloody battle at Fair Oaks in which they had 58 casualties, 18 of which were captured by the enemy.At the end of July, the 96th spent a week a few miles east of Richmond before General McClellan withdrew the to Harrison’s Landing on the James River about 25 miles to the southeast. Edward deserted from Harrison’s Landing before the regiment sailed downriver to Camp Hamilton opposite Fortress Monroe.
