Sharp Shooter - History - U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

During the American Civil War, sharpshooters saw limited action, as tacticians sought to avoid the heavy casualties inflicted through normal tactics, which involved close ranks of men at close ranges. The sharpshooters used by both sides in the Civil War were less used as snipers, and more as skirmishers and scouts. These elite troops were well equipped and trained, and placed at the front of any column to first engage the enemy.

Read more about this topic:  Sharp Shooter, History

Famous quotes containing the words civil and/or war:

    When civil fury first grew high,
    And men fell out, they knew not why;
    When hard words, jealousies, and fears,
    Set folks together by the ears,
    And made them fight, like mad or drunk,
    For Dame Religion, as for punk;
    Samuel Butler (1612–1680)

    This war no longer bears the characteristics of former inter-European conflicts. It is one of those elemental conflicts which usher in a new millennium and which shake the world once in a thousand years.
    Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)