Hayes Lowe
My *guess*.
Fri Feb 23 10:13:18 2001


First, from my book: "The 17th Alabama Infantry Battalion, Sharpshooters was formed in June 1862, and composed of only two companies (Company A and Company B) from the 19th and 39th Alabama Infantry Regiments. This Battalion was under the same brigade as the 19th and 39th Regiments. No records of the unit have been found after August 1864."

I don't know this for a fact, but my best guess is that these men were simply part of the 19th and 39th, and were called together as a group when needed. Otherwise, my guess is that they were ordinarily simply a part of the 19th and 39th regiments. If that guess is correct, they probably did not have their own banner. That theory would be supported by the way sharpshooters were used. They would not enter battle as a unit, but be assigned individually to conduct their appointed task.

I also would think that their uniforms would reflect those of the company/regiment from which they came, i.e. no special uniform as part of the 17th. Now, that said, I would also think that these men had some special adaptations of their uniforms, to suit the needs of a sharpshooter.

In particular, sharpshooters usually did what they could to eliminate reflective surfaces from their person. Brass buttons were usually shunned, in favor of the rubber or gutta purcha buttons. If I recall correctly, the rubber buttons were available from Goodyear, under their 1851 patten, and from Hyde and Goodrich. Military buttons were available from both, but most were Navy buttons. (This may explain why Navy buttons are sometimes found on inland battlefields.) But by far the most predominant were the patterned civilian style buttons...mostly flowers or a checked pattern that simulated a woven basket like look.

I would be surprised if a sharpshooter wore any sort of sword belt, both because it would be unneccesary and cumberson, and because of the reflective buckles and plates.

Sharpshooters sometimes wore a style of glasses that had a metal plate where the lenses would go in ordinary glasses. In this plate was a small hole (about 1/2" usually) that was filled with a tinted glass.

A well equipped sharpshooter would carry a Whitworth rifle. These were incredibly accurate, being a close match for the long range accuracy of today's firearms.






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