Confederate States Sharpshooter

Sharpshooters of the south were naturally accurate. Though the men themselves could be accurate, they were using the British Whitworth rifle with its Davidson telescopic sight. This gun was designed to be more accurate than the British used Enfield's and have more killing power at long ranges. The guns performed similarly at 500 yards, but the difference in performance widened with the distance. At 1,400 yards the Whitworth scored nine of ten hits while the Enfield only scored four. The Whitworth remained effective at 2,000 yards distance, (more than a mile.) However, British did not adopt this weapon as standard issue due to its price (four times the Enfield) and the maintenance, burnt powder quickly accumulating and altering performance. It was commonly used though as a very good target rifle until across the oceanfrom the Union. The south began the process of arming itself against an industrial superior north, but as they could not produce all that they would need, arms buyers would go to the UK to purchase firearms, obtaining contracts for hundreds of thousands of Enfield rifles, but finding Whitworth’s increasingly difficult to buy, the price rising from $100 to $500 to $1,000 for a single rifle. After 1862 it is estimated that few more than 200 rifles made it into the Confederacy and resultingly, the government monitored their distribution, holding contests to determine who could perform to the best advantage with the Whitworth. With the rifle would come a set of rules. The rifles were only to be used against high value targets; artillerists, scouts, officers, and enemy sharpshooters were all fair game. They were also free to operate independently, choosing their own targets and positions on the battlefield. Some Confederate generals did group their sharpshooters into companies. Some casualties of this kind of accuracy were John F Reynolds and John Sedgewick. Ulysses S Grant equated Sedgewick’s loss to that of an entire division. Lincoln also came under fire in the white house when Jubal Early made his raid reaching , the South split Fort Stevens and expended Whitworth rounds were discovered in the area.

Information

Attacks (damage × count)

	bayonet	pierce	4 × 3	melee
	far shot	pierce	18 × 1	ranged	(no counter-attack, marksman)
	harrassment	pierce	6 × 3	ranged	(marksman)

Resistances

	blade	0%			pierce	0%
	impact	0%			fire	0%
	cold	0%			arcane	10%