Article ID: CBB973312512

“The Greatest Terror to the Enemy”: The Combat Debut of Berdan’s U.S. Sharpshooters during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign (May 2014)

unapi

In the spring of 1862, the Army of the Potomac deployed a unique regiment, Colonel Hiram Berdan’s 1st u.s. Sharpshooters. The previous winter, Berdan had recruited the Union’s best volunteer marksmen hoping their long-range skills could vitally aid the Union cause. Some U.S. Army officers doubted Berdan’s experiment. Pessimistically, they guessed that northern sharpshooters could neither hit targets at extreme range nor could they provide any tactical worth on the battlefield. Contrary to expectations, Berdan’s U.S. Sharpshooters performed splendidly during their first major campaign, helping the Army of the Potomac break the Confederate hold on Yorktown. Glowing reports from northern newspaper reporters inflated tales of the sharpshooters’ skills, but the combination of unexpected talent and encouraging media coverage transformed sharpshooting from a despised craft into a permanent army tactic.

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Authors & Contributors
Michael H. Creswell
Pamela Haag
Heitz, Jesse A.
Gregory N. Stern
Toomey, Daniel Carroll
Bisbee, Saxon
Concepts
Military technology
Firearms
Confederate States of America
Ironclads
Technology
Aviation, Military
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century, early
17th century
Places
United States
Arabian peninsula
South Carolina (U.S.)
Indian Ocean
China
Asia
Institutions
West Point Foundry
Springfield Armory, Springfiled, MA
Great Britain. Admiralty
Macon Arsenal, Macon, GA
Harpers Ferry Armory
United States Navy
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