Sharpshooters were first used in the Civil War in America. They were what we would call snipers today, but they also served as skirmishers. Skirmishers were soldiers placed in front of the line to either make first contact when the army was attacking or provide warning of an approaching force. Sharpshooters would slow down an attack by making advancing soldiers cautious. In between battles, they would target enemy officers (six Confederate generals were killed by marksmen during the war) and artillery crews. The first unit was created by Col. Hiram Berdan. Before the war, Berdan was a mechanical engineer and inventor with 30 patents. He had the reputation of being the best shot in the U.S. He led the 1st and 2nd U.S. Volunteer Sharpshooter Regiments. Members had to pass a tough marksmanship test. They were then given a green cap and coat. Berden armed his men with the 1859 Sharps rifle which became known as the Berden rifle. It was a .52 caliber breechloader that was accurate up to 600 yards. At first, the chief of ordnance did not want to issue the weapon, but a demonstration for Lincoln (during which Abe fired the weapon) broke the logjam. It is believed that Berden’s sharpshooters killed more rebels than any other unit its size.
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/videos/sharpshooters-skirmishers-civil-war
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Civil-War-Sharpshooters-Col-Hiram-Berdans-Creation
Sharpshooters
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