Confederate Sharpshooters in the Civil War

[Hancock the Superb]

Confederate Sharpshooters in the Civil War
Confederate troops were often thought to be the best sharpshooters in the Civil War. The southern soldier is often portrayed as the skilled squirrel hunter, spending his life behind the stock of his firearm. Unfortunately, this distinction only belongs to a few chosen men in each regiment or brigade. These handfuls of men influenced the course of battle with their deadly accuracy. The lore of the southern marksman is due to the success of the forgotten sharpshooter battalions.

Confederate sharpshooter companies and battalions were originally organized during the early months of 1862. Colonel Robert Rodes was the inspiration for the creation of the southern sharpshooter. On May 3rd, under his and other officers’ pressure, the Confederate Congress passed General Orders Number 34. This act authorized the establishment of one sharpshooter battalion for each brigade, “to be composed of the men selected from the brigade” (Orders). These orders were put into effect immediately by all commands.

These newly created sharpshooter battalions did not live up to their legend. In the western theater, privates and generals alike complained about the new commands; lawyer-generals found and exploited loopholes which allowed them to keep their infantry intact (Bivouac). Most sharpshooter battalions were compiled by transferring the excess companies in regiments into the new command, a process used to create the First Battalion of North Carolina Sharpshooters (Wharton). These troops were likely no better than their comrades in ranks, as the marksmen of General Maury’s brigade subjected the Sixth Texas Cavalry to friendly fire during the Battle of Iuka (Bivouac).

Confederate marksmen would eventually find their mark through trial-and-error in the battles of 1862. The first engagement of the First North Carolina Sharpshooters came at the Battle of Cross Keys, where Major Wharton and his command felt the enemy position, then quickly retreated back to the main line (Wharton). Other battalions began the duties of skirmishers, especially the handpicked men of Captain Blackford’s battalion in General Rodes’ brigade. At Seven Pines, Blackford’s troops skirmished with enemy pickets before the brigade went in (Richmond). Following Blackford’s example, sharpshooter battalions began to train and fight as skirmishers as the year wore on.

It was in 1863 that Confederate sharpshooters began their rise to the fighting southern soldier of fame. The famed sharpshooters of McGowan’s Brigade started training under Captain William Haskell in January of 1863. These proved their fighting efficiency by combining with two other companies at Gettysburg and helping the Confederates capture the Bliss farmhouse (Dunlop). Sharpshooters of Davis’ and Archer’s brigades skirmished with Union cavalry before Gettysburg on the First of July, pushing the troopers of Herr’s Ridge before the main attack began (Gettysburg). Gettysburg marked the first time that the corps of Confederate sharpshooters as a whole began to live up to its elite status.

The sharpshooters gained their elite status in the winter of 1863. A reorganization of the units began when young, energetic commanders took command. In McGowan’s brigade, Major William Dunlop enacted a draft on the regiments, taking the best shots in each company into his battalion (Dunlop). These men, like their companion units in other brigades, trained extensively every day. By the spring of 1864, every man was expected to hit a man sized target at 1000 yards, hitting on the first shot at 800 yards (Sharpshooters). These highly skilled units bought themselves fame at the cost of thousands of Union casualties, including General John Sedgwick.

In the remaining months of the war, the sharpshooter battalions of the Confederacy became known for their deadly accuracy. These troops were often deployed far in advance of the main line, incurring high casualty percentages (Greene). Although enlisting in the sharpshooters was considered a death wish, many young men wished to be known as the feared marksmen of the Confederacy. These were the ragged rebels who could kill a squirrel a mile away. As time has passed, the exploits of the elite sharpshooter battalions have been attributed to the confederate infantryman as well. The chosen few have created an image from which they have been forgotten.


Works Cited
Confederate States of America, General Orders Number 34.
The Bivouac, “Confederate Sharpshooter Selection: From Falstaff’s Army to Fighting Elite,” Gary Yee.
Regimental History, First Battalion (Sharpshooters), Major R. W. Wharton.
To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign, Stephen W. Sears.
Lee’s Sharpshooters; Or, the Forefront of Battle, Major W. S. Dunlop.
Gettysburg: A Testing of Courage, Noah Andre Trudeau.
North Against South: Understanding the American Civil War on its 150th Anniversary, “Civil War Sharpshooters,” Richard Billies.
The Final Battles of the Petersburg Campaign: Breaking the Backbone of the Rebellion, A. Wilson Greene.

Works Consulted
Shock Troops of the Confederacy, “Post of Honor: A Sharpshooter’s Gallery,” Fred L. Ray.
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable, “The Sharpshooter and His Weapon,” Sid Sidlo.

[Hancock the Superb]

Yes, I wrote this B) (in about 3 hours).

It is my suggestion that we implement sharpshooters as soon as possible. I know for certain that the 1st North Carolina Battalion is misplaced at the start of the Antietam Scenarios. Its two companies should be skirmishing with elements of the Bucktails in the East Woods.

Law's Brigade had three companies detached as sharpshooters before they went into combat at Gettysburg. It would be interesting to implement them as well.

[Little Powell]

Actually, the 1st NC was posted near the East Woods. Technically they were attached to the 21st North Carolina of Trimble's brigade, although we have them as an independent battalion in the game. My sources have them on the left of Trimble's line at daybreak. They fought in the general area of the East Woods until Trimble's brigade retreated between 6:45 to 7:00AM.

[NY Cavalry]

I have no problem with implementing sharps, but not with the ridiculous range of 400 yards. They would have to remain small units. Spoom was putting sharps in his created OOBs months a go, but for some reason they didn't catch on, but for a while we were playing with sharps units.

[Hancock the Superb]

Little Powell:
I would need to see your source. Walker makes an allusion to the sharps being in the East Woods in the official records (I mistakenly said west woods previously). They were definitely a separate unit, their commander notes as such in the regimental history. Unfortunately, he only wrote a sentence about the battle of Antietam.

[Little Powell]

I went by mostly the Carman maps, and aotw lists the 1st NC attached to the 21st.

http://antietam.aotw.org/officers.php?unit_id=829

But you have to remember, scenarios place troops in their starting positions, then script them to move to their historic locations. After that, it's all up to the AI.. So of course a regiment isn't going to fight exactly where they did historically. According to the Carmen AM maps, the 21st NC/1st Battalion Sharpshooters started on the left of Trimbles Line just south of the East woods. But I can see them maneuvering around, and into the East Woods, skirmishing with the Bucktails.

[Hancock the Superb]

I myself don't trust maps that show troop poisitions because the people who draw the lines oftentimes were privates who had no idea where the actually were. The wealth of information we can draw from today makes maps such as the Blacheders Gettysburg troop positions inaccurate. But the scenarios are still fun, so this isn't a problem.

Walker mentions that he deployed skirmishers that morning into the East Woods, and that his sharpshooters ran out of ammunition because of skirmishing. This implies that the sharpshooter battalion was detached. In addition, at the beginning of the scenario, from a time standpoint, the bucktails should be to the north of the east woods, driving the skirmishers ahead of them until they reached the edge, when Walker attacked them. Due to their skirmishing, the Bucktails quickly ran out of ammunition and were forced to withdraw. 15 minutes later, Duryea reached the fence on the southern edge of the cornfield.

[Little Powell]

Ezra Carman was no private, he was the Col. of the 13th New Jersey. His Atlas of the Antietam campaign is considered the definitive study on the battle. I'd say it's a pretty good source.

[Hancock the Superb]

I'm not saying that the map may not be accurate, I'm saying that Carman's sources might not have been. He was not on that portion of the battle at that time, so he would need information from other sources. Many of these sources may be mistaken, especially when it comes down to putting individual regiments in positions based on a topographic map. Men of Smiths NY battery at Gettysburg misplaced the entire monument...and they were on the battlefield, not drawing lines on a map. Bacheldor's Gettysburg maps have inconsistencies with primary accounts of the battle. I'm saying that Carman may not have the 1st NC Sharpshooters in their actual position that day. I cannot pin point them on a map, but the official records, and the Bucktails account, indicates that the 1st was skirmishing in the east Woods while the 21st was near the Mumma graveyard. None of this makes the game less fun, obviously.