Under Heth's system of marksmanship adopted by the U.S. Army prior to the Civil War, as the soldier moved to live firing he was to fire at distances from 150 to 1,000 yards [137 to 914 meters] at the following sized targets, which were divided by horizontal and vertical black lines crossing at the center:
| Distance in Yards | Height of Target in Feet | Width of Target in Inches |
| 150 and 225 | 6 | 22 |
| 225 and 300 | 6 | 44 |
| 325, 350, and 400 | 6 | 66 |
| 450 and 500 | 6 | 88 |
| 550 and 600 | 6 | 110 |
| 700 | 6 | 132 |
| 800 | 6 | 176 |
| 900 | 6 | 220 |
| 1,000 | 6 | 264 |
The six-foot height of the target required that the soldier understand the importance of range estimation and be
trained to accurately estimate range. The widths of the targets were based upon the expectation that a
trained soldier should be able to hit an individual enemy soldier at ranges to 300 yards [274 meters], the area occupied by an artillery piece and crew at 600 yards [547 meters], and the area occupied by an artillery section of two guns at 1,000 yards [914 meters].
Given the arched trajectory of the muzzle loading bullet and its increasingly constrained danger space as range increased, range estimation was of critical importance. Austrian Army soldiers were taught in
training that:
- At 30 Schritt [25 yards/22 meters] one could first distinguish the whites of the enemy's eyes.
- At 50 Schritt [41 yards/39 meters] facial features were clearly visible, and the parts of the enemy's rifle could be clearly distinguished.
- At 80 Schritt [65 yards/60 meters] the pupils of the enemy's eyes were visible.
- At 100 Schritt [82 yards/75 meters] the nose, mouth, and general features of the enemy's face became visible, and the line between the enemy's face and his headgear was clear.
- At 200 Schritt [164 yards/150 meters] the line between the enemy's face and headgear was visible, as was the rifle. The enemy's arms were visually separate from the body. When observing an enemy formation in close order, the dividing line between the face and the headgear appeared to be a continuous line.
- At 300 Schritt [246 yards/227 meters] the enemy's face and headgear were a light and dark blur. The limbs were no longer visually separate from the body, but colors were still visible and might be separated from each other. The equipment of soldiers standing in closed lines formed horizontal lines.
- At 400 Schritt [328 yards/303 meters] the enemy's face and headgear formed a single dark spot. The limbs were no longer visually separate from the body, but movement of the limbs could be observed. The enemy's closed order line formed a continuous or slightly dashed line, but individuals might still be counted.
- At 500 Schritt [410 yards/378 meters] the enemy's closed order line appeared as a continuous line, and individuals might only be counted by a soldier with good vision.
- At 600 Schritt [492 yards/454 meters] legs were still visible as a separate line in the enemy's closed order.
- At 700 Schritt [574 yards/530 meters] the enemy's closed order line appeared continuous, and the soldiers' arms were only separately visible when in motion.
- At 800 to 900 Schritt [656-738 yards/605-681 meters] the line of the legs disappeared, and it appeared as if the enemy's upper bodies were floating. Movement could only be observed by a soldier with good vision.
Similar judgements may be made by a
trained soldier using the width of the front sight of their weapon vice the width of the target to effectively estimate range.
In 1862 Major G. L. Willard of the Federal Army published an abstract of Heth's system of instruction in a pocket-sized manual which could be easily carried in the field by an officer or sergeant. His system of instruction remained theoretically in force in the U.S. Army until Brevet Major General Emory Upton's tactical innovations for the U.S. Army following the Civil War, beginning with his
New System of Infantry Tactics in 1867. Willard's manual stressed the absolute necessity of
training soldiers in range estimation and devoted 10 pages to instructing officers how to do it.
A selected rifleman who had been
trained to accurately estimate ranges, equipped with an Enfield or Austrian rifle musket with a graduated rear sight, and having
practiced with that rifle and a known lot of ammunition on known distance ranges, was perfectly capable of hitting a man sized target at the distances being discussed here.
It ain't rocket science folks, it just required the
training that most Civil War soldiers never got. For the 1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters, the sharpshooter battalions of the Army of Northern Virginia, or the rare selected rifleman in other units, it was another matter entirely.
Regards,
Don Dixon
Forum Host
Bringing the