American Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Some of the earliest mentions of rifling and sharpshooting units in the United States originate during around the
American Revolutionary War and the
War of 1812. During the 1777
battles of Saratoga,
Continental Army officer
Benedict Arnold strategically arranged for sharpshooter units to target enemy officers and artillery units. All such sharpshooters units were disbanded following the war's end in 1783, but they were later revived in the
United States Army under
Anthony Wayne and used in the
Battle of Fallen Timbers of the
Northwest Indian War in 1794. The unit was again disbanded in 1796 following the conclusion of the conflict. However, despite advancements, proficiency at
long-range shooting required extensive training, which many of these units did not receive, and as a result sharpshooters during the civil war would not uniformly adopt long-range tactics akin to modern-day
marksmen. Some of these units, however, would have been considered elite and many were well equipped and trained for such shooting. Common duties of sharpshooters included
picket duty,
scouting, and
skirmishing. In some cases, they were placed at the front of columns to engage the enemy first. Their battlefield role could be misunderstood at times. At the
Battle of Mine Run, one sharpshooter company was ordered to conduct a bayonet charge, even though they were equipped with rifles that were unable to take bayonets.
Union Army Notable sharpshooter units of the Civil War included the
1st and
2nd United States Volunteer Sharpshooter Regiment (USVSR), composed of companies provided by numerous (primarily eastern) Union states. The U.S.V.S.R. were organized by Colonel
Hiram Berdan, a self-made millionaire who was reputed to be the best rifle marksman in the nation at that time. There were also battalion size sharp shooter units including the Ohio Battalion Sharp Shooters, The First New York Battalion Sharp Shooters and the First Maine Battalion Sharp Shooters. Both the
1st and
2nd Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters saw extensive combat during the conflict. They were armed with heavy, custom target rifles and Sharps rifles during their service. There was also an all-Native American company of sharpshooters in the
Army of the Potomac. These men, primarily
Odawa,
Ojibwe, and
Potawatomi from northern Michigan, comprised the members of Company K of the
1st Regiment Michigan Volunteer Sharpshooters. This regiment saw intense fighting during the
Battle of the Crater. The sharpshooters were recognized for their effective service during the onslaught and the unit suffered a number of casualties:A few Indians, of the 1st Michigan Sharpshooters, did splendid work. Some of them were mortally wounded, and drawing their blouses over their faces, they chanted death songs and died - four of them in a group.In the Western Theater were the well known
66th Illinois Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment (Western Sharpshooters), originally known as "Birge's Western Sharpshooters" and later the "Western Sharpshooters-14th Missouri Volunteers". The regiment was raised by MG
John C. Fremont at St. Louis' Benton Barracks as the Western Theater counterpart to Berdan's sharpshooters. Members were recruited from most of the Western states, predominantly Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Missouri. Competitive induction required candidates to place ten shots in a three-inch circle at . They were initially armed with half-stock Plains Rifles built and procured by St. Louis custom gunmaker
Horace (H.E.) Dimick. These "Dimick Rifles" (as they were known in the unit) were modified for military use by the installation of the Lawrence Patent Sight, and fired a special "Swiss-chasseur" minie ball selected by Horice Dimick for its ballistic accuracy. They were the only Federal unit completely armed with "sporting rifles". Beginning in the autumn of 1863 soldiers of the regiment began to reequip themselves with the new 16 shot, lever action
Henry Repeating Rifle giving them a significant advantage in firepower over their opponents. Over 250 of the Western Sharpshooters purchased Henrys out of their own pocket, at an average price of forty dollars (over three months pay for a Private).
Illinois Governor Richard Yates provided Henrys for some members of the
64th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment or
Yates Sharpshooters and other soldiers of the unit appear to have similarly equipped themselves with Henry Rifles in 1864.
Confederate Army On the Confederate side, sharpshooter units functioned as
light infantry. Their duties included
skirmishing and
reconnaissance.
Robert E. Rodes, colonel of the 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment, and later a major general, was a leader in the development of sharpshooter units. The
Confederate States Army made more widespread use of sharpshooters than Federal forces, often having semi-permanent detachments at the regimental level and battalions of various size attached to larger formations. Dedicated sharpshooter units included the
1st Georgia Sharpshooter Battalion and three more from that state, the
9th (Pindall's) Battalion Missouri Sharpshooters as well as the sharpshooter battalions of the
Army of Northern Virginia. Confederate sharpshooters were often less well equipped than their Union counterparts, commonly using the muzzleloading
Enfield Rifled Musket or (the more uncommon)
hexagonal bore British
Whitworth rifles, rather than the breechloading
Berdan Sharps rifles used by the Union Army. These marksmen accompanied regular infantrymen and were usually tasked with eliminating Union artillery crews. However, the exceptional long-range accuracy of the Whitworth rifle allowed the eponymous
Whitworth Sharpshooters to score several high-profile kills, including the infamous deaths of
Brigadier General William Lytle at
Chickamauga and
Major General John Sedgwick at the
Spotsylvania. In his memoirs, Confederate soldier Louis Leon detailed his service as a sharpshooter in the Fifty-Third North Carolina Regiment during the Civil War. As a sharpshooter, he volunteered as a skirmisher, served on picket duty, and engaged in considerable shooting practice. Of his company's original twelve sharpshooters, only he and one other were still alive after Gettysburg. As related by the regiment's commanding officer, Col. James Morehead, in a rare one-on-one encounter Pvt. Leon killed a Union sharpshooter, whom the Confederates identified as a "
Canadian Indian". ==Noted sharpshooters==