Berdan Sharpshooter History

[@neilpk70]

What a brilliant presentation!

[@markfryer9880]

I only got half way before internet problems but the gentleman making the presentation certainly knows his stuff and how to keep the audience engaged. Well done on some very good public speaking. I as a former Australian Army Reservist enjoyed the bayonet story.

[@outdoorlife5396]

I learned a lot. I did not know Berdan was not liked, I did know that the sharpshooters were the most elite unit in the Federal Army

[@echoes1891]

He used to conveniently disappear when the shooting began I've heard..

[@kzeich]

So I guess that's where the term sharpshooter comes from? They were shooting sharpes rifles?

[@outdoorlife5396]

@@kzeich yes, but as far him disappearing when the shooting started, I do not know. I do know that he was not well like by his men.

[@Civilwar.relics]

They were called rifleman that's a modern term even the buttons have a R

[@jacobpoffenberger8888]

I wish all reenactors / living historians were this good

[@kaylamarie8309]

This man definitely knows his history!

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

Thank you very much! A lot of time and research!

[@kaylamarie8309]

@@CompanyD2ndUSSS your diligent research is very apparent Sir 🙂

[@shirayasha]

24 minutes of engaging information. Amazing!

[@schoonerist]

Great video, brilliant presentation. Well done!

[@shadowlab9543]

great info !!! i went to gettysburgh this spring and was touring around and by accident found the berdans unit dedication area back in the woods. i was thrilled because long range shooting is my jam. just as they would have liked it, tucked back in the woods where few know where to look.

[@danielkohli1542]

The two sharpshooter regiments were grouped in with the U.S. volunteer regiments along with the six U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments, two engineer units and, I believe most USCT units. The difference is that the Regular units were, for all intents and purposes, permanent units.

[@MichaelCasanovaMusic]

Yeah, all of the pre existing US infantry units were full time professional soldiers.

[@stephenwilson8961]

Wow! What a great lecture, Cap'n! Was really impressed with the sharpshooters portrayed in the movie, "Gettysburg", and this lecture added more info. Thank you

[@hamm6035]

THAT WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!! An excellent presentation. BRAVO GENTLEMEN!

[@MajoraDivine]

You're the man Ethan. Great video!

[@briannicholas3516]

You guys are awesome, your videos have taught me a ton of stuff about what life in the union army would have been like. I'm hoping to be able to be able to find a reenactment unit to join soon and although I have always wanted to portray a Confederate cavalry soldier (because I'm fascinated by and would love to carry a LeMat revolver) living in NJ it has been difficult to find an existing unit and I don't think I have the time to try to start one on my own. However thanks to your videos I have become quite fascinated with the equipment union sharpshooters were issued and will be looking into the possibility of finding such a unit to hopefully join so I thank you all for broadening my interests!!!

[@thomasfontaine414]

Fascinating! Great to see such dedication to / presevation of detail. A curiosity of note; my Great, Great Grand father was in the 1st Regiment , F company and served until it was disbanded at the war's end. Keep up the good work!

[@thegunbox81]

Very informative , i enjoyed it.

[@thewayforwardsisbackwards]

Great video very interesting Thanks for posting. These are great. Some of the best on KZbin.

[@group9234]

Excellent!

[@charletonzimmerman4205]

Thanks, I got a little, insight, Of my Great-Grandfathers, Civil War service, McClellan's Reg. I saw his discharge, & Battles. He was a 'Sharps-shooter" Now know how he survived, those battles.

[@1stminnsharpshooters341]

I hit the *LIKE* button before the video began ... I'm know I'm going to enjoy this, *1st Minn Sharpshooters* channel with Civil War reenactor live fire, hard marching, and rustic adventures ... enlist today.

[@Francis-hr6jh]

Not to be mean but, why are advertising your channel? I mean someone can just press your profilecause the ***Sharpshooter name on ya***.

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

Thanks. It's always good to hear from the 1st Minn.

[@1stminnsharpshooters341]

No offence taken pard, I'm trying to grow my channel and circle of friends that share the same hobby.

[@maritimedragon]

Interesting - reminds me of the English "Chosen Men" during the Napolianic Wars who also wore green uniforms and were armed with rifles rather than the 'Brown Bess' musket. The 'Richard Sharpe' series in book or TV series is greatly entertaining. I wasn't aware of US units like this

[@siestatime4638]

Well done!

[@DMEII]

I love y'all's videos, especially 1st Sgt's

[@anaisabellopez7933]

Ran into this video while doing research on Berdan's Sharpshooters. Interesting and very informative with little known details. Excellent presentation! Question: Didn't the sharpshooters wear gray uniforms in fall and winter? I understood that the colors were chosen to camouflage them in nature's colors.

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

Absolutely correct! However they didnt last long due to be shot at by friendly forces mistaking them for Confederates.

[@anaisabellopez7933]

@@CompanyD2ndUSSS I see. Thank you for responding.

[@patrickbush9526]

Was there a lens in those scopes? Or was it kind of a tubular peep sight? Great video and presentation thank you for sharing. Made me think of the opening scene of Dances with Wolves . : are you crazy? Get down I ain't kidding these boys are shooters

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

There were lenses. They were pretty low powered and fragile but they worked.

[@peterglen8396]

Well done.

[@exmcgee1647]

"Losing" their bayonets really tripped me out ; every reenactor that does an infantry impression knows how useful the bayonet is as a candle holder , makeshift tent stake, coffee grinder , dipper holder or even (gasp) for stacking arms...

[@F1lmtwit]

We both a Union FORAGE cap (acting corporal) and Union Kepi cap (officer) too!

[@Paul1970]

Very informative! Subscribed!

[@HyperK7]

Wait. Blackburn’s Ford was an 1861 battle preceding the 1st Battle at Bull Run. The Union units involved were Roman Ayers Battery, 1st Mass & 12th New York. Was there a second battle at Blackburn’s Ford I am not aware of?

[@Nelson-rh7og]

Could you guys do a video on the officers sword that the captain is wearing like sergeant kepp did a video on his NCO Sword. Adding wear it was brought from would help. Thanks vary much!

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

James Nelson keeps your eyes peeled. We did a officers sword video over last weekend.

[@Nelson-rh7og]

Company D 2nd USSS i went looking for the video on your you tube site and did not see it. Or did y'all mean that y'all filmed it but had not posted it yet? Thanks!

[@samuellusk5553]

The special company in the civil war I seen they were in new Berne and Gettysburg

[@angrycanuck7408]

Captain I salute you

[@russellbosch9118]

Excellent presentation

[@yankeedoodle7365]

This Is Pretty Cool, I wonder what other types of talks and other Regiments

[@cymbalmanable]

At 14.30 you state that the 1st Regiment of sharpshooters held off Longstreet's Corps. That is incorrect. In actuality, the 1st regiment (with assistance of the 3rd Maine) held off Cadmus Wilcox's Brigade, Anderson's Division of A.P. Hill's 3rd corps before withdrawing. This has always been a misconception because Longstreet's men passed Wilcox later that day.

[@tallman2210]

Did Sharpshooters ever recrute replacements later in the war?

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

They did, there were recruitments in 1862, 1863 and in 1864. There wasnt much however to really make an impact. From what our findings show to is the "replacements" suffered high casualties fairly quickly, probably due to lack of experience.

[@benjaminjarrett9816]

A nine month waiting period? Dang, that’s as long as it took for me to be evicted from my moms womb! Thanks for the history lesson, please do some range videos with the sharps rifle.

[@Nelson-rh7og]

Are those Springfield bayonets on the ends of your sharps rifles or is it something else

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

James Nelson sharps bayonets were the same style as he 1855 and 1861 Springfield bayonets just with a "Collins&Co." Stamping on the body of the bayonet with a "C" on the blade near the socket. However, for modern reenacting use no one really makes a sharps bayonet specific to these rifles so we take a 1861 Springfield bayonet and modify them for use with a sharps. Capt. Whitehall

[@Nelson-rh7og]

Thank you captain Whitehall. Keep up the good work!👍

[@kzeich]

So is this where the term sharpshooter comes from? They were shooting Sharpe's rifles

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

Great question. The term sharpshooter actually comes from German and predates both the unit and the Sharp's rifle.

[@Seouldrift7]

So in some ways they were kind of like Navy Seals right ? Giving some of the tactics used at the time could be seen as unconventional warfare ?

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

For the time yes and no. While skirmish drill was a known practice at the time the USSS perfected it and made it a whole new animal. I would say they were like SF in the way of being unconventional to win but definitely were not sent on deep enemy missions like the SEALs are today. Great comment!

[@Seouldrift7]

@@CompanyD2ndUSSS oh ok

[@danielkohli1542]

You might want to look into the exploits of Commander William B. Cussing. His actions were more similar to the Navy SEALS than any other individual or unit in the Civil War.

[@SF-OwlTech]

where do you get the cooking set and knapsack?

[@HunterCihal]

Thanks for the Crown.

[@somewhatreallycoolguy7439]

7:48 bruh

[@echoes1891]

But what was the social life for members of sharpshooter units like 1st and 2nd? Were they ostracised from society because of their service, as I understand shooting against someone presenting no harm was highly looked down upon. I read somewhere sharpshooters only socialised with other sharpshooters and the units were basically sects. Any truths to any of this?

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

They had a pretty colorful reputation. The targets they took and the tactics they used were often looked down upon but officers saw their value. They were unequaled at skirmish, accuracy, and their ability to work independently. At times, sharpshooters were mutinous, unruly, and didn't look particularly martial in appearance but their reputation as professionals on the field gained them a lot of respect even as the entire 2nd USSS cocked their rifles at a threatening general once. Diaries do show a level of mutual respect between US and Confederate sharpshooters. Wyman White tells of a story while on furlough a drunken Union soldier in a bar said he'd fight any man in the bar except a Berdan. Post war, they went back to their communities with the same level of respect (if not more) as any other veteran it seems. Great question, I hope this helped a bit.

[@echoes1891]

@@CompanyD2ndUSSS Thanks for the info! It clears out a lot of misinformation I had, I always thought they were considered little more than murderers but were apparantly able to live in their communities post war, which makes sense since they fought and risked their lives like everyone else in the army. My idea of sharpshooters living a sectarian life unable to present themselves as sharpshooters in social life also seems not so accurate then. Shame there seems to be no definitive modern study of the Berdan's I looked on the net, saw some book from the 1890s and some more modern expensive ones that didn't. I'm interested in the whole story, not only tactics and weapons and stuff but what it was like to be part of something very modern within military life and society back then.

[@EthanDarke]

Wait, were sharpshooters originally called that because they fired Sharps rifles???

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

They were not. Just a very coincidental situation where the USSS used sharps rifles. Sharpshooter goes back to the early 1800s with the Germans/Prussians.

[@mattzulauf1166]

I've seen you sport the flag of the 20th Maine. No reason to take shots at J. L. Chamberlin. He was a hero. The sharpshooters can share the credit.

[@schoon111]

Green uniform with red suspenders ? Sharpshooter with bayonets?

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

The suspenders you are seeing are probably the riflemans straps from the calf hide knapsacks. As for the bayonets, the sharpshooters were initially issued them but were quickly discarded. However, during an inspection it was noted they were missing and therefore were deducted pay to replace them. They actually did have a small handful of bayonet charges in the war, the battle of Auburn and a small portion of sharpshooters also did so at Gettysburg from what can be recollected at the moment.

[@richarddick1842]

I am sure this has been answered, where can I find documents of tactics and organization of sharpshooters? Thanks!

[@Civilwar.relics]

Rifleman and that's what their buttons state with the eagle with a R in it the Confederacy was just a big cast R button.

[@rsbabaganouche]

Berdan's sharpshooters wore green uniforms...

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

Ideally yes they would have. However the green uniforms quickly wore out and blues were alot more common for quite obvious reasons. A mixture of blue and green especially in the summer months. By the end of the war it was a mix of military and civilian gear.

[@PaulScunnion207]

Do you know who carries the regiments honors? The Maine NG Engineers stole the 20th Maine honors from the Maine guard infantry.

[@danielkohli1542]

There's no units in the Regular Army that draws their lineage from these U.S. Volunteer regiments that I am aware of.

[@donbrassco301]

Share shooters been around Snice G W😄

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

Known as rifleman, or rangers. The United States Sharpshooters were the first ones to be designated as such in the US Army. Voltigeurs, Jägers and Scharfschutze were used well before and after George Washington as well.

[@aaronankney4984]

You don't put your hand out in front of the cylinder on a revolving rifle

[@virgilcain8152]

Gaffs, or climbers, are on the inside of the leg!

[@nunyabuziness8421]

They had rubber buttons

[@civilcoinman]

Mean goatee captain

[@jebstuart3]

HEY!! I'M THE 720th "LIKE"!!!

[@yeyonge]

so Sharpe but Murica

[@gladiatordude3723]

Black sharpshooters

[@rc59191]

Uh no they were white dude.

[@neanderpaul14]

Berdan reenactors think they are bulletproof. I used to be a Confederate reenactor I have seen a single Berdan's hiding behind a single shrub when an entire company took aim and fired. The Berdan kept shooting as if nothing happened, I've seen this several times. If you're going to play, play fair.

[@CompanyD2ndUSSS]

I have seen alot of that with other berdan units than our own. We love to take casualties and have some good guys of us that take awesome hits

[@neanderpaul14]

@@CompanyD2ndUSSS Other than just knowing they were Berdans I have no idea what units they were, but the reenactments I observed this at were in New England or New York. I never noticed this when I went to big events down South.BTW I loved taking a hit as well. I honestly don't think I ever survived a battle. LOL I once even fled and had one of our sergeants shoot me in the back.

[@---------353]

Relax.

[@DaleBruner-qb6de]

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