I don't have specific information on John West, but at Gettysburg Dole's brigade did deploy sharpshooters, some of whom were driven off of "Barlow's" knoll by the Federals on 1 July. In reminiscences of John Hugh Jessup, he mentions being appointed a sharpshooter at Gettysburg and said they "marched in front and to the sides of the [regimental] line to keep a watch-out for the enemy. They had to be clear sighted and quick on the trigger." Jessup was a Private in Co. C, 4th Georgia Infantry.