Sharpshooting Rifles of the American Civil War by Martin Pegler

Author:Martin Pegler
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472815934
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2017-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

Confederate sharpshooter Berry Benson, posing with his Enfield rifled musket. (Augusta Museum of History)

Training was initially on an ad hoc basis. The Union sharpshooters used a series of War Department manuals, mostly translated from French originals, but also devised their own methods, especially for teaching vital skills such as range estimation. Commercial range cards using a scale and adjustable sliding bar became popular, but mostly it was a skill gained through endless practice. Fieldcraft and scouting were also taught, as was camouflage, although the latter was seldom practiced to any great degree. The Confederacy was fortunate in having some very experienced officers within its ranks such as Major Calhoun Benham (1831–1908) and Major General Cadmus Wilcox (1824–90), who drew up a manual of arms that was the equal of anything available anywhere in Europe, and officers who commanded sharpshooter units, such as Major Eugene Blackford of the 5th Alabama Infantry, who created the modern system of target marking signaling hits and misses, which dramatically speeded up the training process.

Any enemy soldier was a legitimate target, but sharpshooters were materially aided in their task by the practice of both infantrymen and officers wearing distinctive insignia. Union soldiers wore a circular brass badge on a cross-strap right above the heart, and both sides wore large brass belt buckles that caught the light and provided an excellent aiming mark. Soldiers also had a tendency to wear civilian clothing in bright colors (red checkered shirts were very popular) and there exist several accounts by sharpshooters on both sides identifying the position of an enemy rifleman due to a splash of color. David Champion of Company G, 14th Georgia Infantry later related that

I recall now, vividly, a Yankee in a ditch just in front of me, who wore a red coat and who seemed to be a particularly good shot. I pointed out the man to Captain Monger, who ordered me to kill the damned Yankee, I followed instructions … held my fire until he raised up, took deliberate aim and fired. To my relief we did not see him again during the engagement. (Quoted in Yee 2009: 394)

The practice of wearing such conspicuous items diminished during the conflict, but never ceased entirely.

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