The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board - Archive

Re: Sharpshooters
In Response To: Re: Sharpshooters ()

That's an excellent point, Tom, and a distinction that is often misunderstood. The Act of the Confederate Congress of April 21, 1862, which authorized the establishment of a battalion of sharpshooters in each infantry brigade, intended for these units to be maneuver battalions. Clearly, the Congress also intended for the sharpshooters to be expert marksmen, equipped with "long-range muskets or rifles," a point which Jefferson Davis affirmed in his address to the Congress on January 3, 1863: The battalion of sharpshooters attached to each brigade has done much to restore our superiority as marksmen, which had begun to be endangered by the guns of long range and constant practice therewith by our less skillful adversaries. On many occasions, the efficiency as well as the valor of these battalions has been strikingly exhibited, and they are now felt as almost a necessity to a proper organization.

The training of the sharpshooter battalions usually emphasized skirmish drill. In the battalion attached to McGowan's Brigade, in the Army of Northern Virginia, a unique and concise system of tactics was prepared and compiled from the American skirmish and French Zouave drills and introduced by the commander for the government of the battalion on the field.

The 12th Battalion Arkansas Sharpshooters functioned as a sort of "fire brigade", not unlike the role of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam. However, when unable to maneuver, such as when they were penned up in Vicksburg, they drew upon their superior marksmenship and functioned as snipers. I've read a couple of interesting Confederate accounts, and a number of Union references, of their role as snipers at Vicksburg. Likewise, the sharpshooters battalions in the Army of Northern Virginia functioned as snipers at Petersburg and Spotsylvania. In fact, one of my favorite quotes are the last words of Union Gen. John Sedgwick, They couldn't hit an elephant at this dis..... just as a Confederate sharpshooter drilled him a third eye.

But to appreciate the role of the sharpshooter battalions, one must, as you said, look at their primary role, which was to serve as elite maneuver battalions.

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