Andrew Jackson Remshard was born on August 11, 1839, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Andrew enlisted in a three month unit, Company K, 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Light Artillery on April 24, 1861 and was discharged July 31st of the same year.

The following month on August 17th, he again enlisted as a private, into Captain C. Collis’s Company of Independent Zouave d’Afrique Pennsylvania Volunteers; for three years.

That company included many French soldiers who had served as Zouaves in the campaigns of France and who had been identified with the 18th Regiment.

It was recruited at Philadelphia by Charles H. T. Collis, proposing to serve as a bodyguard to Major-Gen. N. P. Banks.

The uniform adopted for soldiers was that of the French Zouaves d'Afrique and was retained by the 114th Regiment, to which it was latter attached, throughout the war.

That company was later reincorporated as Company A, 114th Pennsylvania Volunteers.   The corps was mustered in and was sent to Fort Delaware on August 17, 1861, where it was thoroughly drilled in Zouave tactics. Late in September the Zouaves reported to Gen. Banks, at Darnestown, Maryland and after a period of guard duty went into winter quarters.

Andrew Remshard was not with them when the reincorporation of the 114th occurred however; he deserted at “Little Washington”, a quaint little town nestled between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the farmlands of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, in July 1862.

Remshard was not a quitter though, for reasons of his own he immediately re-enlisted under the assumed name of Andrew J. Clark; but into Company H, 1st Pennsylvania Reserve Light Artillery Regiment. A different company, but within his old regiment. Company, or Battery, H was organized at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 5, 1861, and ordered to Washington, D.C. to aid in the Defences of Washington until October, 1861. The unit saw service in the advance on Manassas, Virginia on  March 10-15,  was ordered to the Virginia Peninsula, participated in the  Siege of Yorktown from April 5th through May 4th,  the Battle of Williamsburg on May 5th,  the Battle of Fair Oaks or Seven Pines from May 31st to June 1st,  at Bottom's Bridge on June 28 & 29, was at Harrison's Landing till August 16th,  moved to Yorktown, Virginia and duty there until June, 1863, ordered back to Washington, D.C., arriving on July 1st and marched to Gettysburg from July 1st through the 4th.

In Company H Remshard moved from the rank of private to Corporal, then was promoted to Sergeant and finally busted back to the rank of Private again. Once again Remshard grew disillusioned and deserted, reported as absent on August 31, 1864; being held in confinement at Fort Strong for desertion. He remained there until a Presidential proclamation in March 1865 returned him to his company. When Richmond, Virginia was evacuated on April 3, 1865, Company H and Remshard was the first battery to enter the city.  They ended up with garrison duty at Fort Whipple until December and at Fort Marcy till February 1865.  Their last duty was outpost duty at Edward's Ferry, Maryland until June. The last of the Company mustered out on June 27, 1865. Remshard being mustered out on June 25, 1865. At Philadelphia Pennsylvania, on November 13, 1865, Remshard married Annie Drennen and made his home at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

After the war, Remshard turned up in Australia, and from 1886 through 1889 operated a manufacturing business in New South Wales producing “Remshard’s Electric Arthiritis Oil” under the trademark of “Remshard’s Remedies”. His manufacturing facilities, “Andrew Remshard & Company, Soap and Oil Manufacturers”, were located on Botony Road in Waterloo, New South Wales; with his family address being in nearby Sydney. While living at Bondi, New South Wales Renshard appeared before U.S. Consul Orlando H. Baker in Sydney, New South Wales, on August 23, 1904 and applied for an invalid pension under application number 1164725, at the age of 65. He did so under the name of Andrew Clark, explaining in correspondence that he had previously applied for a pension, at the age of 56, on February 18, 1895 while in San Francisco, California; and was turned down.

He gave as reason for his wanting a pension, that he had a partial disability, resulting from a kidney problem. He sent additional papers to the Bureau of Pensions on January 23, 1905, while still living in Bondi, and explained why he felt he was eligible for a pension; having served successfully with Company H and having mustered out with them. He also informed them of his marriage in 1865 and explained that on his previous application he had been unable to provide a marriage certificate, as it would have identified him as Andrew Remshard; which of course had deserted. He further informed them that he had three children; Annie born February 15, 1867, Harry born March 20, 1869 and Marnie born November 5, 1890. Eventually he was granted his pension.

Andrew Jackson Remshard died on March 19, 1907 and was buried in the Roman Catholic Section 18 of the Waverley Cemetery, grave number 3033.

Annie Remshard Clark applied for and received a widow’s pension until her death in 1935, when she was buried in the same grave with her husband.

The name Remshard, however, lives on today in the name of the business Andrew Jackson Remshard originally began in 1886. Today it is known as “Remshard’s Remedies”; health foods distributed by Remshard Distributors Pty. Ltd. from Liverpool Street in Ingleburn, New South Wales.

“A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion Compiled and Arranged from Official

       Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies”, Frederick H. Dyer

Civil War Zouave Database - John Royle, Waverly, New South Wales

“History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1864”, Samuel P. Bates

Pension Application Papers, Washington, D.C.

Philadelphia Birth Records, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Register of the Members of the Artillery Corps Washington Grays of

      The City of Philadelphia Who Served in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865”, John O. Foering, Philadelphia 1912. - Reports of  the Adjutant Generals - Sands Directory - The Army Registers

U.S. Consul Dispatches - Waverly Cemetery Records - Waverly Council