2nd United States Sharpshooters Company A Berdans Sharpshooters

Quick History

Hiram C. Berdan of New York state created the Sharpshooters. Berdan began recruiting men for the first Sharpshooter regiment in 1861. He recruited men from New York City and Albany and from the states of New Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan and Wisconsin. The volunteer recruits had to pass a rifle test in order to qualify to be a member of the Sharpshooters; each man had to be able to place ten shots in a circle of 10 inches (250 mm) in diameter from 200 yards (180 m) away. They were able to choose a rifle and position of their preference for the test. A man eligible to be a Sharpshooter had to possess a keen eye, steady hands and a great deal of training and skill with a rifle. In addition to that, for a man to be a Sharpshooter, it took cool nerves in order to be able to estimate carefully their target, determine the high trajectory needed and to take in consideration the effect that any current wind may have.

The first regiment of volunteers began service in late November 1861. During their service they fought in every Eastern battle up until autumn of 1864. During their tour, the Sharpshooters were noted for efficient service in the battles of Yorktown, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Spotsylvania and Petersburg. During battle, the mission of the Sharpshooter was to kill enemy targets and people of importance (i.e. officers and ncos) from a far distance.

Uniform


The most notable aspect of the Berdan Sharpshooter uniform is the green color, rather than the standard Union blue. They were one of only a few regiments that went outside the typical Potomac Army's uniform. The green uniform gave the sharpshooters the clear advantage of camouflage, but also sometimes was a disadvantage because they were easy to distinguish against the rest of the Union soldiers for enemy Confederate targets to spot them. Sharpshooters were high-priority kills amongst the Confederate army, because they had such high skills and good salvageable equipment. Sharpshooters used more guerrilla warfare battle tactics than the rest of the Union infantry. Along with the green uniform, a soldier was to have no brass on any of their buttons. Their shoes were standard Union issue, but their pants were made of green wool just like the frock coats, with a pair of gaiters. Furthermore, Sharpshooter knapsacks were a Prussian-style fur sack fitted over a wooden frame, as opposed to the usual tarred canvas. However, as the war went on the men were not reissued this clothing and many of the men received standard federal clothing making them harder for rebel troops to notice their elite capabilities. By the Gettysburg campaign most of the men were wearing modified blue uniforms.