Shock Troops of the Confederacy
Author: Slim Ray
Publisher:
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 414
ISBN-13: 9789649585543
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: Slim Ray
Publisher:
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 414
ISBN-13: 9789649585543
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: Fred L. Ray
Publisher:
Published: 2006-03
Total Pages: 442
ISBN-13: 9780964958593
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The term sharpshooter had a more general meaning in the mid-19th Century than it does today. Then it could mean either a roving precision shooter like the modern sniper (a term that did not come into use until late in the century) or a light infantryman who specialized in the petite guerre: scouting, picketing, and skirmishing. The modern sharpshooter (the term comes from the German scharfschutzen, not the use of Sharps rifles) appeared in Central Europe around 1700. At the beginning of the Civil War, thanks to Hiram Berdan, the Army of the Potomac had a definite advantage in sharpshooting and light infantry, and this came as a rude shock to the Confederates during the 1862 Peninsular campaign. In response the Confederates organized their own sharpshooters, beginning with those of an obscure Alabama colonel, Bristor Gayle. Confederate general Robert Rodes organized the first battalion of sharpshooters in his brigade in early 1863, and later in each brigade of his division. In early 1864 General Lee adopted the concept for the entire Army of Northern Virginia, mandating that each infantry brigade field a sharpshooter battalion. These units found ready employment in the Overland campaign, and later in the trenches of Petersburg and in the fast-moving Shenandoah campaign of 1864. Although little has been written about them (the last book, written by a former sharpshooter, appeared in 1899), they played an important and sometimes pivotal role in many battles and campaigns in 1864 and 1865. By the end of the war the sharpshooters were experimenting with tactics that would become standard practice fifty years later. Although most people think of Berdan's Sharpshooters when the subject comes up, the Confederate sharpshooter battalions had a far greater effect on the outcome of the conflict. Later in the war, in response to the Confederate dominance of the skirmish line, the Federals began to organize their own sharpshooter units at division level, though they never adopted an army-wide system. Making extensive use of unpublished source material, author Fred Ray has written Shock Troops of the Confederacy, which tells the complete story of the development of the Army of Northern Virginia's sharpshooter battalions, the weapons they used, how they trained with them, and their tactical use on the battlefield. It also tells the human story of the sharpshooters themselves, who describe in their own words what it was like to be in the thick of battle, on the skirmish line, and at their lonely picket posts.
Author: Charles Augustus Stevens
Publisher:
Published: 1892
Total Pages: 672
ISBN-13:
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Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Published:
Total Pages: 487
ISBN-13: 1428916466
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: Eugene Blackford
Publisher:
Published: 2015
Total Pages:
ISBN-13: 9780988243514
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Author: William Rhadamanthus Montgomery
Publisher: Mercer University Press
Published: 1997
Total Pages: 142
ISBN-13: 9780865545724
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →William Rhadamanthus Montgomery (1839-1906) was present at some of the most memorable battles of the Civil War. Among them were Chickahominy, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredricksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor. Wounded seven or eight times, Montgomery remained in service throughout the entire war. After the war, he returned to Marietta where he lived out the rest of his days. The diary and the letters contained herein is a testament to his time as a soldier during the Civil War. But as the diary and letters indicate, the war was not the end all of his life. His loyalty for the South was surpassed only by his loyalty for and to his family.
Author: Rebecca Robbins Raines
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Published: 1996
Total Pages: 488
ISBN-13: 9780160872815
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Getting the Message Through, the companion volume to Rebecca Robbins Raines' Signal Corps, traces the evolution of the corps from the appointment of the first signal officer on the eve of the Civil War, through its stages of growth and change, to its service in Operation DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM. Raines highlights not only the increasingly specialized nature of warfare and the rise of sophisticated communications technology, but also such diverse missions as weather reporting and military aviation. Information dominance in the form of superior communications is considered to be sine qua non to modern warfare. As Raines ably shows, the Signal Corps--once considered by some Army officers to be of little or no military value--and the communications it provides have become integral to all aspects of military operations on modern digitized battlefields. The volume is an invaluable reference source for anyone interested in the institutional history of the branch.