>>>>I see the Confederate sharpshooter battalions as something akin to modern ranger battalions -- elite, light infantry units, intended for small-unit operations, with every man qualified as an expert marksman. <<<<<

Cleburne did this with nearly every rifleman in his division during the summer of 1863, while the army was refitting after Murfreesboro. Major Calhoun Benham of the staff was detailed to write a manual of instruction for rifle marksmanship with the Enfield rifle/rifle musket, which he then had printed in Atlanta and distributed.

Ammunition being as short as it was, there was not a lot of live fire associated with this project, but everyone went thru the ropes of weapons maintenance, the proper sight picture, steady hold factors, and range/distance estimation until it became second nature. It paid off the following fall in the Chickamauga/Chattanooga campaigns, as well as the Hundred Days in front of Atlanta.

I found a copy of Benham's book, and it makes for a nice little living history each year with the new guys. It's good stuff.

And again, it's not anything special, nor rocket science, but simply Cleburne's practice of paying close attention to the small details in existing doctrine and tactics that made the difference.