While there are serious and legitimate disputed interpretations and reinterpretations of history, the past, especially in the popular view, has produced an overabundance of myths and near myths over the years, some based in duplicity, but most in a simple lack of understanding, There are probably more of these errors in the field of firearms development and tactical use, usually disregarded as being of less importance by academic historians, than other topics. The Civil War concept of what constituted a “sharpshooter” is one for sure.
Although many people today seem to view “sharpshooter” as a synonym for “sniper,” that was not the case in 1861. Unfortunately, the term was often randomly used by units hoping to elevate their military credibility. In truth, trained sharpshooters could be considered the ultimate Civil War infantrymen, screening advances and withdrawals as skirmishers.
Although the Army of Northern Virginia developed some very effective sharpshooter battalions
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in the war’s final years, perhaps the best known such units were Colonel Hiram Berdan’s 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooter Regiments. Initial admission into the regiments involved competitive target shooting with heavy specialized rifles but, once in service, Berdan’s men were largely reequipped with, initially, Colt revolving rifles, and then Sharps rifles, with a few telescopic sighted target rifles in reserve for use in static situations. The famous Winslow Homer painting and the widely circulated print it gave rise to tended to make the soldier portrayed a typical “sharpshooter.’ I always wondered how he could reload that gun in the tree, but then again that sort of thing is my “thing.”
Although the US Sharpshooters performed well, both regiments were mustered out of service when their original enlistments expired in August 1864 and the following February. Recruits with service time remaining were transferred to line outfits from their respective states, taking their Sharps rifles with them. Sharps rifles were scattered throughout
by Joe Bilby
the army in other units, usually for use in skirmishing.
Berdan’s regiments were not the only Union units bearing the “Sharpshooter” title. The 66th Illinois, which performed so well at Atlanta, began as “Birge’s Western Sharpshooters,” armed with civilian target rifles. By Atlanta their initial armament had been largely replaced by Henry repeating rifles, short range rapid fire arms. Most “Sharpshooter” units found their target rifles largely unsuitable for combat. Several companies of Ohio sharpshooters recruited in 1862 were initially issued rifle-muskets, later replaced by Spencer rifles, which like the Henry, were more suited to skirmishing than long range work.
The 1st Michigan Sharpshooters, recruited in 1862 and 1863, did not enter combat until 1864, when they were armed with standard rifle-muskets. The 1st suffered heavy casualties in Virginia fighting as line infantry during 1864, but there is evidence that some Native Americans from the regiment would camouflage themselves with cut corn stalks and roam the lines seeking targets of opportunity.
Although effectiveness varied, arguably the best sharpshooter units by 1864 were those in the Army of Northern Virginia, where brigades were authorized to form three to five company sharpshooter battalions. After testing all available arms, these battalions adopted the two-band .577 caliber muzzleloading Enfield rifle, as its five-groove fast twist rifling provided better long-range accuracy, and were also issued high quality British manufactured ammunition. They also received extensive marksmanship training and drill in small unit skirmish tactics, based on Confederate General Henry Heth’s manual, plagiarized from the British one. These sharpshooter battalions had specific tactical assignments whenever their brigades were in action—to aggressively lead in the advance and provide an effective rear guard in withdrawal.
Each company in a sharpshooter battalion was issued one or two .451 caliber hexagonally bored fast twist Whitworth rifles. The British Whitworths, some of equipped with side mounted Davidson telescopic sights, weighed about the same as rifle muskets, and were far more portable than the heavy target rifles usually deployed by Federal snipers. Perhaps the most famous long- range kill of 1864 was credited to a Whitworth. On May 9, at Spotsylvania, Va., seconds after proclaiming “they couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance,” Union Major General John Sedgwick fell to a bullet fired from more than 600 yards away. That Sedgwick was singled out by the shooter is unlikely in the smoke and confusion of the battlefield as well as the distance of the shot. He had dismounted to assist an artillery battery positioning its guns, and the battery itself was the likely target. Still, his death graphically demonstrated the long-range effectiveness of the Whitworth.
In the west, Confederate sharpshooter units, the best of them in General Patrick Cleburne’s Division, were armed with a mix of rifle muskets, Whitworths, and British-made .451 caliber Kerr rifles, as well as some heavy
barreled target rifles converted by the Atlanta arsenal to fire standard rifle musket ammunition. Perhaps influenced by Cleburne’s interest in long range shooting, western Confederate sharpshooters seem to have concentrated on sniping more than skirmishing. Sharpshooters from Kentucky’s Orphan Brigade were instructed to never approach within 400 yards when engaging Federal artillery batteries with their Kerr rifles. The batteries were the targets, not individual soldiers.
