{"id":6473,"date":"2021-06-23T08:51:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T12:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/?p=6473"},"modified":"2025-05-21T21:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T01:13:05","slug":"kn-p-277-snipers-sharpshooters-in-blue-and-gray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pattiphillipsbooks.com\/kerriansnotebook\/2021\/06\/kn-p-277-snipers-sharpshooters-in-blue-and-gray\/","title":{"rendered":"KN, p. 277 “Snipers – Sharpshooters in Blue and Gray”"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Guest Writer, Tom Rizzo
\n<\/span><\/strong>(If there are no paragraph separations in this article, please double-click on the title to create a more readable version.)<\/span><\/em><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The young Union soldier, his face damp with sweat, blinked a couple of times to clear his vision, and braced the rifle against his shoulder.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Looking downrange, he squinted, aimed at the distant target, and squeezed the trigger. His accuracy would determine his qualifications to join an elite regiment of army sharpshooters.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A well-known marksman by the name of Colonel Hiram Berdan arranged regional shooting competitions to identify the most skillful shooters.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The competition involved two phases. Participants were required to place ten consecutive shots in a circle ten inches in diameter from a distance of 100-yards.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second part of the event required the same accuracy but at a distance of 200 yards.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who missed the targets by an average of more than five inches from the center faced disqualification.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After evaluating the results, Berdan decided who displayed the necessary skill to qualify for an elite unit of crack riflemen he was forming for the Union Army.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Those recruited for Berdan\u2019s Sharpshooters <\/strong><\/span>in 1861 had to be cool-headed men with eagle-eyed vision and steady hands capable of calculating each shot\u2019s trajectory and wind velocity.<\/span><\/p>\n

For fifteen consecutive years, most people considered the New York City mechanical engineer the top rifle shot in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

The politically connected self-made millionaire had invented a repeating rifle, a patented musket ball, a twin-screw submarine gunboat, and a torpedo boat.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Berdan invited President Abraham Lincoln to observe a demonstration of his units\u2019 firepower. Following the <\/strong><\/span>impressive display, Lincoln <\/strong>authorized <\/strong><\/span>the formation of twenty Sharpshooter companies.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The four-foot-long breech-loading Sharps rifle became the weapon of choice for Berdan\u2019s Sharpshooters. Christian Sharps had designed and patented the design for the Sharps <\/strong>Rifle in 1848.<\/span><\/p>\n

The term sharpshooter <\/em>did not originate with the rifle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commanders often chose sharpshooters for specialized battlefield assignments, such as targeting Confederate officers and other high-value targets. They also provided support for combat units and conducted surveillance.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Berdan\u2019s Sharpshooters usually wore distinctive green uniforms, a green forage cap with a black ostrich feather, and black leather brogan shoes.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The unique clothing enabled them to blend into the foliage, which they used for camouflage. But the special uniform proved both an advantage and a disadvantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most important of all, the green color gave the sharpshooters a clear edge in the ability to camouflage.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the green color made it easier for Confederates to spot them. The South considered the Sharpshooters high-priority kills.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Confederate Army had its version of sharpshooters.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

These marksmen often served as semi-permanent detachments at the regimental level.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than the breech-loading M-1859 Sharps rifle, Rebel sharpshooters used the Enfield Rifled Musket or British Whitworth rifles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author Fred L. Ray, in his book Shock Troops of the Confederacy<\/em><\/strong>,<\/span> wrote: \u201cConfederate sharpshooter battalions had a far greater effect on the outcome of the conflict.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Berdan Sharpshooters paid a steep price for success. Even though they were credited for a higher percentage of kills than any other unit in the war, they also suffered the highest casualties.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1863, the Sharpshooters fought at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and the Mine Run Campaign and suffered significant losses.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the original 33 commissioned officers and 981 enlisted men in the First Regiment, only 11 officers and 261 enlisted men survived by year\u2019s end.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the war came to a close, the Sharps rifle became even more popular.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buffalo hunters, frontiersmen, and U.S. troops throughout the Great Plains and the Desert Southwest adopted the weapon because of its powerful, long-range accuracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Many thanks to Tom Rizzo, consummate Old West Storyteller, for bringing the story of Hiram Berdan and the army sharpshooters to Kerrian\u2019s Notebook<\/em>!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Please check out his website: https:\/\/tomrizzo.co<\/strong><\/a><\/span>m<\/a><\/span><\/strong> for information about his books and more fascinating true stories of the Wild Old West.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharpshooters in the Old 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