Confederate Snipers

Confederate Snipers
One of the most ignored aspects of Civil war history is the complete story of Confederate Army Sniper (Sharpshooter) battalions. These units were one of the many creative combat innovations of the Confederacy which included armored ships, submarines, land mines, trench warfare, bushwhacking and a variety of long forgotten tactical innovations. Any who read the story of the Confederate defense of Petersburg will feel that it is very similar to World War I's horrific Battle of Verdun. The long distance raids of Confederate Cavalry leaders like General Nathan Bedford Forrest, were studied for decades by the Imperial Russian General Staff.Confederate Shapshooter Battalions were employed in new and innovative ways that were copied to a limited extent by Red Army and Waffen SS Sniper Companies in World War II. I have a translated Red Army manual which referred to all riflemen as snipers.Confederate Sharpshooter Battalions, made more lethal by the innovative tactics that they employed, piled up scores of Yankee corpses and certainly exceeded the kill-rate of various famous northern sharpshooter units. The war hobbyist, student of war, or professional soldier who lives for war in the same way that painted sports fans live for their favorite sports teams, will emerge in the near future as a group long overlooked by the world. In fact, there are students of war in every nation and not all of them are professional soldiers. Such people will find most interesting any research that they conduct regarding Confederate sharpshooters. No longer will history buffs be forced to read about long lines of infantry pouring bullets into each other. Now they can marvel at the shock and sturm tactics of America's own Confederate Sharpshooter battalions.