Hello,
Last night I finished reading the memoirs of Berry Benson, "Confederate Scout-Sniper". In it he ran into Mosby and his men and commented on the fact that they all seemed a superior caliber of men as opposed to the average confederate, physically and in intellect and their dress. He said they all had fine uniforms of various shades of grey, and many had uniforms of corduroy and that these were some fine uniforms. Hell, I did not even know they had corduroy back then?!? That is a new on on me.

It was a pretty neat book, but the title is misleading. While at first he was in the 1st S.C. Vols and then got assigned to a sharpshooter battalion, and he did do some serious scouting, it never mentioned him laying there taking serious aim, true sniping or sharpshooting. About all they ever did seems to me is just do a lot of skirmishing as skirmishers. He mentioned being friends with Ben Howell, who was a true sharpshooter with a Whitworth. He said that Ben had no duties in camp, etc, and could come and go as he pleased, roaming an area or battlefield finding his own spot and picking targets with his Whitworth. Now that is a true "sharpshooter" or sniper. It was interesting though, especially his escape attempts, escaping from Elmira, etc, and making his way back to his command, what all he went through. At the end he refused to surrender so he and his brother just left, with all their arms and equipment, and made it home to Augusta, Ga., where they were from. I wonder if they ever did sign the parole or oath of allegiance later on? My hat is off to him!
Later,
Dave