| Breechloaders & Green Coats |
| Berdan's United States Sharpshooters at Gettysburg |
| by |
| Colonel (Ret.) Samuel W. Floca Jr. and Roy M. Marcot |
| Gettysburg, Late Afternoon, July 2, 1863 along the slopes of Big Round Top cast of the Slyder Farm. |
| Contesting every yard of ground with the skirmish line of Confederate Maj. Gen. John Bell Hood's division, Maj. Homer R. Stoughton's 2nd Regiment, United States Sharpshooters, slowly, keeping up a steady and accurate fire. The men of Company F fell back from the Slyder Farm and took up positions in the timeber overlooking Plum run |
| "Our line being only a skirmish line ... we were obliged to fall back or be either killed or taken prisoner. The enemy force in our front was at least ninety men to our one. Still they noticed that there was some opposition to their charge for we were armed with breechloaders and, as we took the matter very coolly, many a brave Southron threw up his arms and fell. But on they came, shouting and yelling their peculiar yell . ." |
| Part 1 |
| BERDAN'S SHARPSHOOTERS IN THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC |
| "A Corps d'Elite" |
| "I propose to form a regiment of 750 men, to serve for three years, or during the war to be divided into ten companies of 75 men each... No man is to be mustered in who cannot, when firing at rest at a distance of 200 yards, put ten consecutive shots in a target, the average distance not to exceed five inches from the --enter of the bulls eye . . " ;-Hiram Berdan to Winfield Scott, General in Chief, United States |
| Army, June 13, 1861. |
| Approval came two days later in a letter carrying the endorsement of Simon Cameron, Lincoln's Secretary of War. "The General-in-Chief ... desires me to say that he was very favorably impressed with you personally, and that a Regiment of such Sharpshooters, as are proposed by you ... would be of great value..."� While Berdan was far better known as an inventor and marksman than as a soldier, he would, with the support of several outstanding subordinate officers, bring into being one of America's "elite" fighting units. |
| Competing with Lincoln's call for volunteer regiments, Berdan found recruiting to be a more complex task than he had anticipated. To solve the problem he wrote the State Adjutant Generals, proposing that each raise a company to he integrated into the regiment. Recruiting posters went up in towns and villages, and men eager to demonstrate their skill with a rifle were quick to answer the call. Companies were mustered in 'and a formal "Camp of Instruction" was established in Washington City. |
| The 1st Regiment |
| The 1st Regiment consisted of the regulation ten companies four from New York, three from Michigan, and one each from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin. One additional company from Minnesota, designated as Company L, was subsequently transferred to the 1st� Minnesota Volunteer, Infantry in May of 1862. They serve with the Minnesotans until November of' 1863 when, greatly reduced in strength, they were assigned as the division Provost Guard until their enlistment expired. |
| Berdan was appointed regimental commander and was given Lieut. Col. Frederick Mears, a Regular Army Officer, as his second in command. |
| Captain Casper Trepp, Swiss by birth, and a veteran of the wars in Europe- commanded company A. Despite the open and lingering hostility between Berdan and Trepp, the latter would, on merit, rise to command the 1st Regiment, and die in battle wearing his cherished green coat. |
| The 2nd Regiment |
| Correspondence with the States indicated that another regiment could easily be raised and Berdan went forward with P. format request. On October 3, 1861, the War Department granted approval. The 2nd Regiment never reached the authorized strength of ten companies, operating with only eight; two each from New Hampshire and Vermont; and one each from Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Maine. |
| As the 2nd's companies were mustered, they joined their sister regiment at the training camp in Washington. However, all was not well. White recalled the arrival of his company (Company F, New Hampshire) in early December ..... "the first company of New Hampshire Sharpshooters that belonged to his regiment [Berdan's] came ... to escort us up to our camp adjoining theirs ... a more indignant company of men I never saw ... they poured into our cars a story of the meanness of Colonel Berdan. They did not hesitate to call him an impostor and a fraud and said that he did not keep one of his promises that was made and published when the men enlisted." |
| While the Sharpshooters would win honors on many a field, Berdan would prove to be a disappointment. |
| Whatever their first impressions, the men of Company F were soon fully absorbed in the rigorous routine of physical training, skirmishing, and marksmanship. White noted ,"All were anxious to learn and before spring we were a well drilled company, especially in skirmish drill which was our favorite drill ... We took our orders from the call of the bugle. "0 |
| The Question of Weapons |
| Each potential recruit was to qualify with his own weapon, but Berdan promised that those selected would be provided special rifles to suit their mission. The state of the art "muzzle- loading target rifles" had the requisite range and accuracy, but were too unwieldy for battlefield conditions. Berdan sought a weapon that was as portable as an infantryman's musket, yet one that would produce the range and accuracy of a target rifle. |
| The Camp of Instruction was visited by dozens of arms merchants, each hoping to sell their product. |
| However, no weapon appeared to meet the Sharpshooters exacting needs until a salesman from the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut, paid a visit. When his company's target rifle was rejected as being too heavy, he brought out a sample Sharps 1859 .52 caliber breech-loading rifle which quickly captured the attention of all who examined it. With only a few minor modifications, Berdan was, confident the Sharps was the ideal weapon; sufficiently light for field duty and accurate at 500 yards. |
| Unfortunately, neither the Secretary of War nor the Chief of Ordnance, General James W. Ripley, shared Berdan's enthusiasm as the highly specialized weapon would cost over $40 a copy whereas less expensive weapons were readily available. Berdan's failure to promptly deliver was not well received by his men. Morale plummeted when the men were forced to accept the 5-shot Colt .56 caliber revolving chamber rifle as an interim weapon. Ripley finally listened to Berdan's pleas and approval was granted to order the Sharps. |
| In the midst of the 1862 spring campaign the Sharps arrived; the 1st Regiment received theirs in May, and the 2nd's were issued the following month. They came none too soon. |
| The unit historian, Captain C. A. Stevens (1st Regiment, Company G, Wisconsin), wrote, "On the 8th (May) the regiment received the long expected Sharps rifles, now needed more than ever, as the Colts were for our dangerous service found defective in many respects." |
| White echoed Stevens' sentiments. "The possession of these rifles made every man a Sharpshooter in fact, and the men with the little Sharps made their mark whenever and wherever they came in contact with the Rebels." |
| Berdan also provided special target rifles which, while effective for sniping during siege, operations, were too cumbersome for field duty. These were eventually relegated to the company wagons and issued only as required. They were assigned to the best shots and it was considered a mark of honor to be selected. |
| Coats of Forest Green |
| Disdaining the standard Federal Blue uniform as being "too conspicuous," Berdan opted for a frock coat and forage cap of forest green, blue trousers, and gray overcoats. As he put it, the 'Uniform "will correspond in the leafy season with the color of the foliage," while the gray overcoat "will suit surrounding objects in the fall and winter." Leggings and black cap feathers completed their distinctive attire. |
| ��������������� The gray overcoats were quickly discarded as they attracted friendly fire; green trousers replaced the blue; and the feathers and leggings eventually went by the wayside. |
| [Author's Note. My research, while not all inclusive, failed to turn up any logical reason for the transfer of the Minnesota company or two Massachusetts companies which later served with the 2nd Corps as "Andrews" Sharpshooters.] |
| from written history portion of the painting of the same name |
| �Part II next newsletter |