Sharpshooter Weapons - Vol. IV, Episode 6

Рет қаралды 44,010

6 жыл бұрын

What was a sharpshooter during the Civil War? What weapons did they use? Join us as we explore sharpshooter weapons used during the war with Dan Wambaugh who has researched this topic for over 20 years. In this episode, he shares a great first-hand account from both sides of the war that illustrates the effectiveness of a sharpshooter and his weapon.
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Пікірлер: 70

@myaccountjhr 4 жыл бұрын

My g-g-grandfather was a sharpshooter in the 17th Alabama. He carried a Whitworth, one of the six imported into Mobile, AL in 1862. At war's end he did not surrender. He took the scope off the rifle, placed it in its leather carrying case, leaned the rifle against a tree, and walked off. I have his scope and case in my safe.

@CivilWarDigitalDigest 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your family story!

@rc59191 Жыл бұрын

Woah dude that's a really cool story. 3 of my 3rd great grandpa's fought for the Union one was a Zouave in the 2nd Delaware trying to get a copy of his uniform made since we can't find the original.

@Fluffinator129 Жыл бұрын

My reenacting group is talking about doing that unit, do you have any more information or sources on them?

@Joebonjoe Жыл бұрын

Blablabla, my g-dad was fighting in Stalingrad, so what? Although my g-dad was actually a simple "Sturmpionier", but they loose Lots of soldiers , so he was unfortunately sent to a kind of a "anti-tank-detachment". Man, this little men dug into a camouflaged 4 foot foxhole, let a T-34 tank run over him, then jumped up from behind and threw a grenade through the hatch. THIS IS a story! Your gggg-father, on the other hand, was on vacation.

@bigpoppapump8014 Жыл бұрын

@@Joebonjoe your grandfather did one thing wrong, creating your father who created you.

@michaelelliott172 6 жыл бұрын

Awesome! My ancestor, CPL Taylor McCoy, was a member of the 1st KY BDE Sharpshooters and participated in the Atlanta campaign. They were issued Kerr rifles, so I love seeing them talked about every chance I can!lol

@CaptainChip501 3 ай бұрын

Ah General Sedgewick, Uncle John. General of the 6th Corps. My regiment I portray, 139th PVI, loved Sedgewick. He was a great general.

@BocageTiger 6 жыл бұрын

Great work, Dan! Thank you for sharing your collection.

@jimhovater8755 9 ай бұрын

I have a rifle from my late dad's collection marked '17th Alabama Sharpshooters'. It was made in Limestone County, AL.

@Hi-lb8cq 6 жыл бұрын

Awsome video!!!..everytime I watch civil war digital digest I feel more authentic for my cw impression...keep up the good work

@notsosilentmajority1 3 жыл бұрын

I wasn't very interested in American history until I got a bit older. I'm playing catch up now, lol. There is so much history within the history. I love the history of all the firearms but everyday soldier life is quite interesting as well.

@brianfuller5868 6 жыл бұрын

Always great info!

@indymaiden9426 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jeremy and Dan, appreciate the info and video... can’t hate your enthusiasm for sharpshooting rifles Dan! Who wouldn’t!

@brianfuller7691 5 жыл бұрын

Great video. I love the passion for sharpshooting and the equipment. The term sniper was never used during the War. Sharpshooter and marksman were the terms used; A marksman was simply one skilled with a firearm ( rifle or pistol) while a sharpshooter could be a sniper, skirmishes or light infantry.

@richardbuxton2435 4 жыл бұрын

Great talk. Learned a great deal. I read in Yankee Tigers by Ralsa C Rice of the 125th Ohio that he met a sharpshooter collecting cobwebs somewhere around Columbia to use the threads as cross-hairs for his rifle. It's hard to imagine how in the field they would fix them in the scope. I certainly know they were used later, but was that common in the civil war?

@Beaguins 6 жыл бұрын

I think that was your most interesting video yet.

@CivilWarDigitalDigest 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@SteveAubrey1762 5 жыл бұрын

Excellent video!

@1stminnsharpshooters341 6 жыл бұрын

Enjoyed the video *LIKED* thanks Pards at CW Digest --- *1st Minn Sharpshooters* channel with Civil War reenactor live fire, hard marching, and rustic adventures ... enlist today.

@SteveAubrey1762 10 ай бұрын

I enjoyed this video! Great job!

@CivilWarDigitalDigest 10 ай бұрын

Glad you did! Thanks!!

@leoscheibelhut940 Жыл бұрын

Great presentation!

@CivilWarDigitalDigest Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@ScoutSniper3124 Ай бұрын

5:34 I find that scope mount interesting. It seems like the range scaled to the front of the scope is backwards. The higher the shooter lifted the front of the scope the lower the barrel would drop in relation to it. Doesn't make sense to me. SSG. U.S. Army (Medically Retired) Infantry / Sniper / SOF Intel (SOT-A), multiple tours

@thomasmanson1119 10 ай бұрын

Good video. In researching my great grandfather (with the 121st PA Vol Inf’y) his muster records in the US National Archives in DC (for the period immediately after the battle of Fredericksburg), frequently noted with “on special duty with the sharpshooters”. How can I determine what unit of sharpshooters he would have been working with? Thanks, Tom KC3QAC

@bradcrampton8920 Жыл бұрын

super cool

@CivilWarDigitalDigest Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoy!

@arkansasboy2177 3 ай бұрын

My 4th great grandfather served with the 12th Arkansas battalion sharpshooters

@smsfte4699 Жыл бұрын

How does the accuracy/long range ballistics compare between the Whitworths and those 38lb target rifles?

@whodatsaddle Жыл бұрын

Such great content, I am so sad to have only discovered this channel recently.

@CivilWarDigitalDigest Жыл бұрын

Don’t be sad! Look at it this way, you have a lot of binge watching in your future. Reach out if we can help advise you on what to look at based on your interests. Enjoy!

@CivilWarDigitalDigest Жыл бұрын

We have also done several short films. They stream, along with a number of these projects that have been remastered and improved, on a streaming platform called www.HistoryFix.com.

@whodatsaddle Жыл бұрын

Awesome! I have been binging your channel since I ironically discovered it through a meme lol You guys rock!

@fredray7485 4 жыл бұрын

One problem with the Sedgwick story is that McGowan’s brigade was at the other end of the line, and it’s very unlikely that Dunlop’s battalion would have been deployed seven miles away. That said, I envy your collection.

@randallhawkinson4727 6 жыл бұрын

Howdy! Well done, Sir! I'm new to your site thanks to a close friend in our Union Brigade with the American Civil War Association in Central California. I command Company B of the Confederate States Marine Corps (ACWA). We were assigned to Drewry's Bluff, Va and manned the rifle pits (sharpshooters) along the James River for a mile either way of the Bluff and the heavy guns at the fortress itself. Many thanks for giving me more stuff to chew on for my living history display and talk at our events.

@motog4221 Жыл бұрын

Very interesting. Didn't whitworth also manufacture hexagonal bore cannons?

@jasmachugh4222 2 жыл бұрын

One of my ancestors, (Greatx4 or 5) uncle served in Birge's WSS (66th Ill.) prior to his death.

@clockmonkey 6 жыл бұрын

How did Dan get that black eye?

@michaelkilgore8358 4 жыл бұрын

The illustration of the sharpshooter in a tree was used in a civil war book I had years ago. Someone borrowed it and never gave it back. I would very much like to find another copy but I can't remember the book title. Can someone please help me if you can, it would be greatly appreciated.

@1942Dreamer 3 жыл бұрын

Drawing done by Winslow Homer.

@brianmfieldwick3494 3 жыл бұрын

2nd grade Whitworth rifle cost $96 when purchase by the CSA

@Bayan1905 Жыл бұрын

The 4th rifle down from the top, the civilian type rifle, just above the Whitworth, is that a Horace Dimick rifle?

@Shpadoinkle0007 Жыл бұрын

It's meant to be a representative example but is not a true Dimmick-marked rifle. It's a standard .36 caliber heavy barrel hunting rifle with a J. Golcher lock that I've owned for a number of years. A nearly identical rifle is pictured being held by one of the Hollis brothers of Company E, 66th Illinois.

@cphillips237 6 жыл бұрын

Very good video! two other rifles that should be included are the model 1854 Lorenz type 2 and the 1841 Mississippi .54

@thefishmerchant 6 жыл бұрын

The Enfield short rifle looks like an 1860/1861 Enfield short rifle. The 1856 was a naval rifle that has brass furniture, and had a faster twist rate which did make it more accurate than the 3 band.

@wwandcompany4892 6 жыл бұрын

The pattern of 1856 short rifle was an iron mounted two band rifle with a barrel of the same weight and twist rate of the pattern of 1853 rifle-musket. Later the naval pattern of 1858 was introduced which featured a heavier barrel and higher rate of twist, improving accuracy. Finally, the pattern of 1860 rifle (iron mounted) adopted the heavier barrel of the naval rifle. By far the most common British rifle imported by the south was the P56. The British were keen to sell these as surplus and replace them with the superior P60. Interestingly enough Caleb Huse, the CS agent in the UK only ultimately purchased 700 P58 rifles as part of his contracts for Enfield "short" rifles (making them account for only .07% of the short rifles ordered for CS use!) Incidentally, this is the only model widely reproduced today, making it grossly over-represented! For further reading check out "The English Connection" by Pritchard & Huey. It is a superlative volume and I cannot recommend it enough.

@thefishmerchant 6 жыл бұрын

WWandCompany I stand corrected sir. I was unaware that the army had made theirs first. I did look in to that book and the only copy that I could find was well over 100$

@wwandcompany4892 6 жыл бұрын

That's what they go for, though they are worth a lot more. They are hard bound and full of thousands of high resolution color pictures. I like to say it's the sort of reference book I wish I'd had when I was young! FYI you can find them for $100 on the College Hill Arsenal website. Tim Prince (the owner) is one of the authors. They are worth every penny!

@CivilWarDigitalDigest 6 жыл бұрын

It’s great to see a good conversation and people sharing information on our page! Thanks for being an example, both of you!!

@markshaw3185 6 жыл бұрын

4th on the rack looks like saint Louis Hawkins rifle

@fuzztsimmers3415 Жыл бұрын

Its pretty amazing that my budget hunting rifle has better performance than the sniper rifles from back then. Its neat to see the advances. And smaller bullets aren't more accurate longer bullets are.

@CivilWarDigitalDigest Жыл бұрын

They aren’t “sniper” rifles per se.

@fuzztsimmers3415 11 ай бұрын

@@CivilWarDigitalDigest Well yeah i see that.

@skeb2144 3 жыл бұрын

Someone help me out because google won't *DO SHARPSHOOTERS USE SIDEARMS?*

@CivilWarDigitalDigest 3 жыл бұрын

If you mean a handgun, generally we find it very rare that any infantry in the Civil War regularly carried them. When interpreting the troops, many of us look to be plain, every day, and common - and a pistol does not fit with that goal.

@skeb2144 3 жыл бұрын

@@CivilWarDigitalDigest I meant did Civil War sharpshooters carry any other guns besides their rifle?

@CivilWarDigitalDigest 3 жыл бұрын

Sorry. I missed your question! Depending on the weapon, some of them were fitted with bayonets. In other cases many of the weapons are good at range. In some cases, it seems the man swapped out in the federal army although I have not seen in the confederate army. Sorry to not be more help!

@skeb2144 3 жыл бұрын

@@CivilWarDigitalDigest Thanks :D

@j.shorter4716 Жыл бұрын

I think some of them had spotters that would keep a look out on their surroundings

@annamalin123 6 жыл бұрын

Would sharpshooters go hunting since they had more accurate guns

@b1laxson 5 жыл бұрын

Id suggest hunters made better sharpshooters, given their years of civilian accuracy practice. With that background they might go hunting out of habit. The need for food in a provisioned army would fave a lot to say of how often they needed to go hunting