Army·Consolidated / merged·In Memoriam
Berdan's Sharpshooters
Green Coats
Served: 1861–1865
Federal precision-rifle units (1st and 2nd US Sharpshooters) — the first US Army formation recruited entirely by marksmanship test (10 shots in a 10-inch circle at 200 yards) and armed with the breech-loading Sharps rifle on Lincoln's personal order.
The Story
Lincoln watched Hiram Berdan personally shoot a target shaped like Jefferson Davis's head at 600 yards. He then ordered the regiment armed with the breech-loading Sharps over the objection of his own Chief of Ordnance, who wanted muzzle-loaders.
Epitaph
“Forest green uniforms in a sea of blue. Folded back into the line in 1865.”
Sources
- Wikipedia — 1st US Sharpshootersen.wikipedia.org
- HistoryNet — Berdan's Marksmenhistorynet.com