The 1st Company Massachusetts Sharpshooters was organized in Lynn, Massachusetts and mustered in for three years service on September 2, 1861.[1] The company was originally recruited for ColonelHiram Berdan's sharpshooter regiments. When the men were informed that they would lose their enlistment bounty, they declined to join Berdan's regiments and instead remained independent.[2] Most of the recruits tended to be skilled workmen who were competitive shooters tending to be older than the average Union soldier, and these men also tended to be of the larger physical size.[3] They were armed with heavy, custom target rifles and Sharps rifles during their service.[4]
Battle of Antietam, September 16–17. — Attached to Gorman's 1st Brigade, Sedgwick's 2nd Division, Sumner's II Corps[1] — Supported II Corps attack, sniping at opposing officers and snipers. Captain Sanders killed with nine others.
Moved to Harpers Ferry September 22 and duty there until October 30.
Movement to Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 20.
On Picket, Falmouth to 12 December — 9 December, eighteen men on muster roll. Captain William Plummer of Cambridge, MA, arrived with forty recruits and took command of the company.[6]
Battle of Fredericksburg December 12–15. — Attached to Sully's 1st Brigade, Howard's 2nd Division, Couch's II Corps[1] — Provided counter-sniper fire during construction of pontoon bridges and crossing 11 and 12 December. Set up positions on outskirts of city below Marye's Heights targeting artillerymen on the heights.
Battle of Cold Harbor June 1–12. — Attached to McKeen's/Haskell's/Pierce's[note 3] 1st Brigade, Gibbon's 2nd Division, Hancock's II Corps, Meade's Army of the Potomac[1]
Before Petersburg June 16–18.
Siege of Petersburg June 16-July 12. — Attached to Pierce's 1st Brigade, Gibbon's 2nd Division, Hancock's/Birney's II Corps, Meade's Army of the Potomac[1]
The company lost a total of 39 men during service; 3 officers and 21 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 15 enlisted men due to disease.
Commanders
Captain John Saunders - killed in action at the Battle of Antietam
Captain William Plumer
Armament
Sharps Model 1852 "Slanting Breech" Carbine, open for loading, two primer-tapesSharps rifle in .50-70 Government.
Throughout their service, the company was armed with custom, muzzle-loading target rifles equipped with telescopic sights running the length of the barrel. The larger than average physical size of the unit members proved an asset in carrying these weapons.[13] These target rifles were a mix of heavy bench rifles and lighter out of hand rifles. Hawkins and Morgan James were among the manufacturers of these rifles.
Starting at Antietam, they also carried Sharps rifles[14] in the field firing over the iron sights.[15] The Sharps Rifle was produced by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut.[16] The Sharps made a superior sniper weapon of greater accuracy than the more commonly issued muzzle-loadingrifled muskets. This was due mainly to the higher rate of fire of the breech loading mechanism and superior quality of manufacture, as well as the ease of which it could be reloaded from a kneeling or prone position.[17]
^After the death of General Reynolds, General Hancock was assigned to the command of all troops on the field of battle, relieving General Howard, who had succeeded General Reynolds. General Gibbon, of the Second Division, assumed command of the corps. These assignments terminated on the evening of July 1. Similar changes in commanders occurred during the battle of the 2nd, when General Hancock was put in command of the Third Corps in addition to that of his own. He was wounded on the 3rd, and Brigadier General William Hays was assigned to the command of the corps.[8]
^"Arrived morning 2 July, positioned at rock wall on the north end of Cemetery Ridge, several squads were detached and sent to different parts of the line. Cleared out Confederate snipers occupying Bliss farm. In late afternoon, when II Corps retook Bliss farm, a squad went with them to snipe from the farm. No losses 2 July.
On 3 July, unit dueled with Confederate snipers in buildings in Gettysburg facing Cemetery Hill and Ridge. During Pickett's Charge, unit concentrated targeting on officers. Suffered four dead, three wounded."[12]
^U.S. War Dept., Official Records, Vol. 27/1, p. 158- Organization of the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, U. S. Army, commanding, at the battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, pp. 155-168
U.S. War Department (1889). Operations in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Department of the East. June 3-August 3, 1863., Part I - Reports. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXVII-XXXIX-I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 155–168. hdl:2027/coo.31924077699761. OCLC857196196. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
U.S. War Department (1889). Operations in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Department of the East. June 3-August 3, 1863., Part III - Correspondence, etc. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXVII-XXXIX-III. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 53–55, 461. hdl:2027/coo.31924077700262. OCLC857196196. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth (State Historian (1896). Massachusetts in the Army and Navy During the War of 1861–65(PDF). Vol. I. Boston, MA: Wright and Potter Printing Co, State Printers. pp. 34, 50–55, 72–79, 92–103, 115–130, 137, 147–151, 230–231, 565–569. OCLC1049652105. Retrieved August 8, 2015. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Johnson, Robert Underwood; Buel, Clarence Clough (1887). Robert Underwood Johnson; Clarence Clough Buel (eds.). The Tide Shifts. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War: Being for the Most Part Contributions by Union and Confederate officers: Based upon "The Century War Series". Vol. III. New York City: The Century Company. p. 778. OCLC48764702. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
