Use of sporting rifles by sharpshooters in the civil war

Actually I believe the majority of Henry VI's troops were actually European mercenaries or Welsh with hardly any "English" soldiers, that is up to the point where Lord Stanley (I think) who had been sitting around just observing decided to throw in his lot with Henry Tudor & thus the War of the Roses ended with the death of Richard III. Gave Shakespeare something to write about anyway. Henry's victory led to Henry 8th, Elizabeth 1st & the break with Rome.

At the start of the battle Richard III's forces were some 50% larger but Richard managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory when he saw Henry's personal banner & took off in an ill advised charge without consultation or apparently much thought.
Peter

tacfoley said:
That was called the English Civil War. The concept of Britain had not, at that time, entered the collective consciousness - see the post above for elucidation. It has not now, nor has it ever been, referred to as anything but the English Civil War, since it took place in England, among the English.

The War of the Roses was also an English civil war, taking part between the Houses of York and Lancaster - no furriners were involved - with the exception of Welsh Archers.

tac
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Scottish Jacobite Rising (1689–92)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_risings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Boyne

Read all of the articles, history is a matter of opinions.
People tend to assemble the details they want to include, exclude others and come to a conclusion that suites them.

The end of this rising coincides with the Battle of the Boyne and the Glencoe Massacre. These were the last gasp in the effort to insure that the Roman Catholic King James II of England, Scotland, and Ireland would remain on the throne, not William of Orange.

The sharpshooter’s rifle shown in post # 21 is the type of rifles discussed in the book, “The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle”, by Ned H. Roberts which provide details on shooting the type of scoped rifles used in the Civil War.
 
For they that are interested in 'American Civil War' Snipers and the weapons they used this is a rather interesting link.

http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/1785....com/17859/history/0505_Civil_War_Snipers.pdf


Also;


http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/articles/means/sharpshooter.htm


http://www.berdansharpshooters.com/art.html





This is an example of a Sharps New Model 1859 Rifle that was manufactured in 1862 as part of a 2000-gun contract to arm the 1st and 2nd United States Sharpshooter Regiments (Berdan's Sharpshooters). The rifle has the distinctive combination of double-set triggers and front sight stud for angular socket bayonet that are found on all of the 2000 M1859 Rifles ordered by the Ordnance Department on January 27 and February 6, 1862 at the request of Colonel Hiram Berdan for issue to the U.S. Sharpshooter Regiments. Most on the documented Berdan Sharps Rifles are found in the 54,374-57,574 serial number range. This rifle, serial number 54,478, is listed on page 98 of "SHARPSHOOTER" by Wiley Sword as one of 47 Model 1859 Sharps Rifles identified by Sword in the correct serial number range with double-set triggers and angular bayonet mount. Approximately 180 of the Sharps rifles purchased for Berdan's Sharpshooters were issued to the famous 42nd Pennsylvania Infantry (Bucktails) in August 1862 and were used by that hard-fighting regiment throughout the Civil War. The rifle has a bayonet lug front sight base with steel blade and R.S. Lawrence folding leaf rear sight with 900 yard center notch. The lock has the R.S. Lawrence patent pellet primer and factory double set triggers. The walnut forearm has a steel tip. The walnut stock has a casehardened iron patchbox with Ordnance punch-dot inspection mark on the inside of the lid. The Ordnance sub-inspector's initials "S.L." are stamped on the left barrel flat. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped with the two-line legend: "SHARPS RIFLE/MANUFG. CO./HARTFORD CONN." in three lines ahead of the rear sight and "NEW MODEL 1859" in a single line between the rear sight and the receiver. The left side of the receiver is stamped with the two-line Sharps 1848 patent date. The R.S. Lawrence 1859 patent date is located behind the hammer and "C.SHARPS PAT/OCT.5th 1852" is roll-stamped on the lock plate. The serial number, "54478" is stamped on the upper tang. The 1st and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters were among the most famous and effective Federal regiments in the Civil War. Their distinctive Sharps Model 1859 Set-Trigger Rifles saw action in most of the major battles in which the Army of the Potomac was engaged and are some of the most historic and desirable weapons of the Civil War.
BBL: 30 inch round
Stock: walnut
Gauge: 52 percussion
Finish: blue
Grips:
Serial Number: 54478
Condition: Good. The metal surfaces have been lightly cleaned many years ago and have a silver-gray patina. The barrel, receiver, patchbox and small components are free from pitting and have minimal handling marks. The buttplate has some scattered light pitting. The markings on the barrel, rear sight base, receiver and lock plate are clear. There is crack in the upper receiver tang at the upper tang screw. The lever key retainer plunder is lost in the cylinder. The walnut stock and forearm have moderate handling wear. The stock wrist has typical handling wear and the lightly struck Ordnance final inspection mark on the left side of the wrist is no longer visible.




Still at auction it sold for ;
10,000.00 USD to floor
+ (1,950.00) buyer's premium + taxes, fees, etc...
May 2011----and it was not an excellent piece.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in the 1990s Time Life Books did an approx. 30 volume series on the U.S. Civil War.
I ended getting that whole series.

Following that they did a three volume series called “Echoes of Glory”.
Arms and Equipment of the Union, and Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy, and The Illustrated Civil War ATLAS.

The photos are very decent …..I guess that that I am glad that bought this stuff back then.
All of the principal sharpshooter arms are shown.

The pieces that they used were not necessarily pristine pieces but show the result of what they went through during the war.

It is rather well done.








 
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The Time Life series on The Civil War published back in the 1990s followed by the Echoes of Glory which specifically dealt with the arms and equipment of both the North and the South. (Previously shown in an earlier post.)



David

An accurate rifle in it's day. (.54 caliber)
U.S. Model 1841 Rifle (Mississippi Rifle)
This was not a CW sharpshooters arm.
This particular rifle was manufactured in 1848 by Whitney and used during the CW with the saber bayonet.

This rifle was considered a very advanced weapon back then.







 
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sail32 said:
Scottish Jacobite Rising (1689–92)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobite_risings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Boyne

Read all of the articles, history is a matter of opinions.
People tend to assemble the details they want to include, exclude others and come to a conclusion that suites them.

The end of this rising coincides with the Battle of the Boyne and the Glencoe Massacre. These were the last gasp in the effort to insure that the Roman Catholic King James II of England, Scotland, and Ireland would remain on the throne, not William of Orange.

The sharpshooter’s rifle shown in post # 21 is the type of rifles discussed in the book, “The Muzzle-Loading Cap Lock Rifle”, by Ned H. Roberts which provide details on shooting the type of scoped rifles used in the Civil War.
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Laugh2, sweet jeebus! Don't even mention Glencoe! As a kid I was told to never trust a Campbell...and this coming from MacLean's! In actuality, the MacDonald's suspected what was what when the "militia" showed up, and although terrible was a far cry from a "massacre". Innocent casualties happened no doubt about it. What soured more than anything was the fact that this militia took shelter (on nervous invite) into the very homes they attacked the next day...It was the slap to hospitality rather than spilled blood that still anger some folks to this day. (I'm not among these "folks" in thinking BTW)
 
sail32 said:
Massacre of Glencoe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Glencoe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/union/trails_union_glencoe.shtml

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/scotlandshistory/unioncrownsparliaments/massacreofglencoe/

http://www.scottish-history.com/glencoe.shtml

etc., etc.
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I've actually visited. Rannoch Moor has to be crossed when coming from the south to Glencoe, and is probably the creepiest place I've been through on this earth. The Glen is quite nice but had me scratching my head as to why/how the valley (Glen) could support anyone for very long, let alone a small community!? Now that I think about it, that could be taken as a general statement for the entire northern area of Scotland...a whole lot of not much really. Just my opinion.
 
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