Confederate sharpshooter battalions

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Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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In April of 1862 the Confederate Congress passed an act to establish battalions of sharpshooters.

Section 1. the Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, that the Secretary of War may secure to be organized a battalion of sharpshooter for each brigade, consisting of not less that three nor more than six companies, to be composed of men selected from the brigade or otherwise, and armed with long range-range muskets or rifles, said companies to be organized and the commissioned officers therefore appointed by the President. by and with the advice , and consent of the Senate.

The Union seemed to prefer sharpshooter regiments or independent sharpshooter battalions. It would appear to me that the Confederates wanted the sharpshooter battalions to be controlled at brigade level. It would appear that this would have limited the training and tactical use of these sharpshooter battalions. Basically this act seems to be little more that allowing brigades to arm their best shots with long-range muskets or rifles. I have doubts that proper training would ever be given to these Confederate sharpshooter battalions and they would end up being little more than infantry battalions that were good shots.

Would anyone care to compare the Union sharpshooters and the Confederate sharpshooters in regard to training, tactics and employment?
 
Depends on when you're trying to compare. Early war, mid war or late war. The ANV was late getting into specialist skirmishers but they became more and more important as the war progressed. The AoP had several well publicized units but as the war went on they well out of favor.
 
How Confederate sharpshooter battalions were organized varied throughout the war. Some were mere consolidations of disbanded commands or companies pulled from existing regiments. For example, the 1st North Carolina Sharpshooters consisted of two companies from the 21st North Carolina Infantry, or Austin's 14th Battalion Louisiana Sharpshooters formed from the disbanded 11th Louisiana Infantry. Despite that, its still likely that they did receive more extensive training in skirmish drill, and were indeed used as the designated skirmishers and pickets for their brigade or division.

Others, such as Blackford's Sharpshooters organized from Rodes' Alabama Brigade or the 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters organized from Wofford's Georgia Brigade (both organized in 1863) actually consisted of hand-picked men. They were not only picked for being good shots but also for their personal bravery, youth and physical endurance. It was also insured that the officers chosen to command them were some of the best in the brigade. They received additional marksmanship training such as range estimation, as well as in skirmish drill.

In early 1864, Gen. Lee issued orders that every brigade in the ANV organize its own sharpshooter battalion. Not every brigade in the army fallowed suit, though most did. These, for the most part, also consisted of hand-picked men from the brigade. Most of these were ad-hoc units, not formerly mustered into service; the 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters was one exception to this in the ANV.

In a few cases there were also sharpshooter organizations at the division or corps level as well, such as Cleburne's sharpshooters. I believe Longstreet's Corps also might have had such an organization, as few accounts point to such, however there's hardly anything on them out there.

Generally, both Confederate and Union sharpshooters fought with the same tactics. They were essentially 'elite skirmishers', or the designated skirmishers for their brigade, division or corps. They could also act as scouts or man the picket line; in this role they may act more so like how we would think of a modern day sniper, in a general sense.

On an organizational level, however, Confederate sharpshooter battalions, especially those in the ANV, were probably more efficient than their Federal counterparts. With a sharpshooter battalion in every brigade, they could readily be called up at any time necessary and used at the brigade, division or corps level. There were a number of ad-hoc sharpshooter units organized in the Federal armies, some at the company level, however there was never any attempt to organize these units on a grander scale like in the ANV.


I've plugged it a thousand times here, but Shock Troops of the Confederacy by Fred L. Ray is an excellent book on Confederate sharpshooter battalion in the ANV. Well worth the read.

Also, Major W. S. Dunlop, commander of the sharpshooter battalion in McGowan's SC Brigade, authored a history of his battalion, Lee's Sharpshooters; or, The Forefront of Battle. There's also Berry Benson's memoir, who served in Dunlop's Battalion.
 
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Col. Hamilton Allen Brown, 1st NC Infantry Regiment,

"After a lengthy convalescence, Brown returned to the army in August 1864 to find his skeleton regiment reassigned to the North Carolina brigade of William R. Cox. Brown was given command of the newly formed sharpshooter battalion for Jubal Early’s Second Corps. He ably led the battalion through spirited engagements at Martinsburg and Third Winchester. In the latter action Brown narrowly escaped a severe wound when a bullet struck his pocket watch. He avoided capture by a Union cavalryman by begging off that he was too severely wounded to hobble to the rear. Brown then escaped to fight again. At Cedar Creek the aggressive Colonel spearheaded Early’s surprise assault on Sheridan and claimed the temporary capture of sixteen Federal guns. Following the disastrous Valley Campaign of 1864 the sharpshooter battalion spent the winter along the siege lines west of Petersburg. In March of 1865, Brown was captured in a free for all fight at Fort Steadman during “Lee’s Last Grand Offensive.” He was sent northward, ultimately taking the oath of allegiance at Fort Delaware on June 24, 1865."

from http://26nc.org/blog/?p=538

See also https://civilwartalk.com/threads/co...st-north-carolina-infantry.99470/#post-870126
 
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To elaborate more on a point in my earlier post, the sharpshooter battalions in the ANV were organized to operate in conjunction with their entire division or corps, not just their brigade. If necessary, all the sharpshooter units in a division could be temporarily grouped under a single commander as a sort of "demi-brigade". Col. Hamilton Allen Brown mentioned above was placed in command of Rodes' Division sharpshooters in 1864, so in that role he commanded all the sharpshooter battalions in the entire division. That was in fall of 1864 during the Valley Campaign; I believe he commanded the sharpshooter battalion in Cox's North Carolina Brigade prior to that.

In this way Confederate sharpshooter battalions in the ANV really outclassed the Federal sharpshooters in the later half of the war in terms of efficiency and organization. Actually there was an effort in the Union VI Corps late in the war to form division-level sharpshooter units for every division in the corps, although that idea really didn't catch on throughout the entire AoP. By 1864 there were a few Union regiments equipped entirely with repeating rifles in the AoP and in the Western armies with the idea of operating as a light infantry unit or designated skirmishers; however, these were still only used on an independent basis, similar to units like Berdan's Sharpshooters, without a wider organization on the division or corps level.
 
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