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| Thomas' Legion |
| Introduction & How to Use this Site |
| Cherokee Chief William Holland Thomas |
| Causes and Motives: American Civil War |
| Organization of Union and Confederate Armies: Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery |
| American Civil War: Union and Confederate Navies |
| American Civil War: The Soldier's Life |
| American Civil War Battles and Battlefields |
| Civil War's Turning Points |
| Civil War Casualties, Fatalities & Statistics |
| Civil War Generals |
| American Civil War Desertion and Deserters: Union and Confederate |
| Aftermath and Reconstruction |
| Civil War Genealogy and Research Tools |
| American Civil War Pictures - Photographs |
| African Americans and the American Civil War |
| North Carolina in the American Civil War |
| Civil War Battles Fought in North Carolina |
| North Carolina Civil War Regiments and Battles |
| NORTH CAROLINA HISTORY |
| North Carolina Coast: American Civil War |
| Western North Carolina and the American Civil War |
| Western North Carolina Regiments and Battalions |
| HISTORY OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA |
| Cherokee Indians: American Civil War |
| HISTORY OF THE CHEROKEE INDIANS |
| History of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian Nation |
| Cherokee Indian Heritage, History, Culture, Customs, Ceremonies, and Religion |
| Cherokee War Rituals, Culture, Festivals, Government, and Beliefs |
| Researching your Cherokee Heritage |
| Recommended American Indian History |
| North Carolina: American Civil War Photos |
| Thomas' Legion Papers, Diaries, and Memoirs |
| American Civil War Polls |
| Recommended Reading |
| Author's Recommendations: American Civil War |
| Civil War Video Games |
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Sharpshooters at the Battle of Gettysburg Devil's Den Slaughter Pen, Confederate Sharpshooter Units
Firearms Rifles Muskets Guns Rebel Sharpshooter Tactics Strategy in American Civil War Battles
"Amidst the boulders lay a rebel sharpshooter..."
 Dead Confederate "sharpshooter" at Devil's Den, photographed by Timothy O'Sullivan on July 6, 1863. (Library of Congress)
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One of the most widely recognized and often published photographs on the subject of Gettysburg, this melancholy view of a dead Confederate youth laying behind a stone barricade at Devil's Den was taken on July 5 or 6, 1863 by photographer Alexander Gardner and two of associates. Gardner later published the photograph
in his "Photographic Sketchbook of the Civil War" accompanied by a lavish description of his discovery of the dead soldier
who he described as a sharpshooter killed at his post. Gardner also speculated on the dead soldier's final moments in the
sniper's nest, adding that he found his bleached bones still lying in the nest while on a later visit to the site. It was
not until 1975 when Gettysburg: A Journey In Time by author-historian William Frassanito was published, that this apparent
hoax by Gardner was uncovered. This scene was actually posed by Gardner and his associates who carried the corpse into this
position and dressed up the scene with relics of war scattered about the area. A final touch was the rifle standing against
the barricade, placed by Gardner who had used the weapon in previous photos. Gardner's assistants, James Gibson and his chief
photographer Timothy O'Sullivan, took two photographs of the scene, the clearest of which is shown here. They then moved on
to photograph other scenes in the adjacent "Slaughter Pen", leaving the body in the sharpshooter's nest.
Though this scene was contrived by Gardner and his men, it does not detract from the fact that this young soldier died
on a battlefield far away from a home where his relatives and loved ones were possibly wondering at the very moment this picture
was taken, whether he was alive and well or killed in battle. This soldier's identity has been lost in time, his youthful
remains forever preserved in a photographer's image that has haunted historians and the curious for over a hundred and thirty
five years. Yet, the use of his body as a photographer's prop should not detract from the tragedy of a life snuffed out in
battle. The true facts of his death on the rocky slopes of Devil's Den are better known today, but cannot dim the feeling
of loss Americans should feel when we gaze upon this scene and realize that he once had a name, a family, and a home.
Source: National Park Service; Gettysburg National Military Park
Recommended
Reading: Sharpshooters of the American
Civil War 1861-65. Description: When the American Civil War commenced in 1861, both Confederate
and Union officials decided that specialized sharpshooter units should be formed. These highly trained marksmen served in
a front-line role and, due to the technological developments of the 1850s, were equipped with weapons that could guarantee
greater accuracy over increased range than traditional muskets. Continued below...
This title examines the recruitment, training, tactics and deployment of sharpshooters from both sides of
the conflict. It also takes a close look at the specialized weaponry of the sharpshooter, the rifle and its accoutrements,
as well as the sharpshooters' unique insignia and identification patches. It includes full color photos and action-packed
battle scenes.
Recommended Reading: Shock Troops of the Confederacy (Hardcover: 432
pages). Description: Fred Ray's Shock Troops of the Confederacy is primarily focused on the "sharpshooter
battalions" of the Army of Northern Virginia. In a Civil War context, "sharpshooter" was usually more akin to "skirmisher"
than "sniper," although these specialized battalions also used innovative open order assault techniques, especially late in
the war. Continued below...
Ray
includes, however, a detailed study of Union sharpshooter battalions and Confederate sharpshooters in the West. Remarkably,
little has been published about such organizations in the past, so Fred Ray's book offers a unique study of the evolution
of Civil War infantry tactics, revealing a more complex, sophisticated approach to the battlefield than is usually understood.
Recommended
Reading: Sniper: A History of the US Marksman (General Military) (Hardcover: 304 pages) (Osprey Publishing:
August 21, 2007). Description - Reviews: "Martin
Pegler's Sniper is an engrossing history of U.S. military snipers spanning more than two hundreds years. This careful assessment
of the rationale behind and the motivation that drives snipers dispels the idea that snipers are no more than assassins. Instead
Pegler shows how snipers are all about protection, and their main job is to protect their fellow squad members." -Dan Danbom,
TimeOut for Entertainment (October/November 2007). "... Sniper is more
than a survey of modern military strategy; it covers military marksmanship history in America from Revolutionary War days
to modern times, considering the first usage of marksmen and their strategic evolution. Chapters chronicle over
200 years of sniper history and developments, from training to weaponry, and make for an excellent addition to any military
library." -The Bookwatch (October 2007)
Recommended
Reading: Lee's Sharpshooters (Hardcover: 496 pages)
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