PETER ALLARD -- 96th INFANTRYWORKED AS A SHOEMAKER AND LANDSCAPER - Pierre Allard was born inBeauharnois, Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River justwest of Montreal. He came to live in Clinton County and set up shop as ashoemaker in Plattsburgh. On October 26, 1861, he enlisted in the 96thInfantry as Peter Alour and was mustered into the regiment as a privatein Company H a month later.After drilling at the Plattsburgh Barracks, they left for Washington bytrain on February 11, 1862. Within a month, the regiment had traveled tothe capital and sailed to the Virginia Peninsula to take part in themonth-long Siege of Yorktown.When the Siege ended, they fought their way to Richmond and spent abouta week at the end of June on the outskirts of Richmond, before GeneralMcClelland withdrew them to Harrison's Landing thirty miles downriver.They then went to Suffolk, VA, at the mouth of the James River to awaittheir transportation to await their orders to North Carolina inDecember.While they were encamped at Coinjock about 60 miles south of Suffolk onthe Virginia coast, Peter re-enlisted as a veteran. In April 1864, theregiment was ordered back to Yorktown and made their way upriver tofight between Petersburg and Richmond. Between May 5, 1864, and the endof October, they were in battle constantly and suffered over 300casualties. They spent the winter of 1864/65 in the trenches aroundRichmond and were there when the city fell, sustaining no morecasualties.Peter returned to Plattsburgh, where his wife and two young childrenwere living. For a while they lived in Virginia and then moved toGermantown, PA, where he set up a landscaping business. He was stillworking when he died in 1904 and was buried under the name Peter Allardin the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham Township about four milessouth of town. His wife, Catherine Cauley, received her Widows Pensionuntil she died in 1923 and was buried near him.
